Sarah and Peter arrived in the room they started in at the Adventurers hall. They looked around, confused before realizing they had completed their mission. The woman who was sitting at the counter was counting coins and looked at them and sighed. "So it looks like two of you made it this time and with little scars too. What did you do, make your partners work to death?"
The woman looked away and continued counting her coins. She did not seem all that interested in their response. Peter walked up to her and had a question. "So, what happens now?"
Without looking at the boy, she tossed them two badges. Both were bronze and said tier 1 on them. "With these, you are officially bronze, tier-one members of the adventurer's guild. Do missions and raise in rank to earn benefits from the guild and other towns who acknowledge the guild."
They grabbed the badges and placed them in their pockets before heading out. Other members of the guild looked at them, and some even grinned. One shouted to them. "Good job, rookies, keep it up, and we'll see you in the future!"
The two blushed and headed out the door. They were not used to the praise and attention from other people. They actually liked it. Perhaps adventuring was in their nature. They had a mission to finish, so before they got too comfortable, they took what coins they had and rented a ride back to their home.
It would take them two weeks to make it back home, so they were going to make the best of it. Practicing spells and sword techniques, they prepared themselves for their reunion with Perish and Kaz.
***
Drinking tea at the hut, Kaz and Perish are preparing for the return of their companions. Kaz is looking over his spellbook and adding in the spells that he learned from Peter while also trying to memorize the new spells in the book. It looked like learning a spell from someone was easy, but learning from a book required more work. "I wonder why I can't just learn the spell outright." He pondered the idea but decided to let it go for now.
Perish was grinding some herbs together to make more potions of healing for when her friends arrived. She was not sure if she was going to need them, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. Having practiced herbalism for years, Perish was getting really good at grinding and concocting different types of potions.
Kaz had been curious about Perish's abilities and often wondered what got her into learning that kind of stuff. Was it survival or curiosity that drove her to do what she does? The two weeks went by peacefully. Kaz wanted to clear out the bodies of the dead kobolds, but he knew that would alert the soldiers into knowing there were survivors, and that would not be in his best interest. There was nothing to loot from these kobolds since they had not had time to build anything.
Waiting for Sarah and Peter to come back was draining. Kaz could only look over his spellbook so many times before he got bored. "Hey, Perish, do you wanna spar a bit before they get here? I could use the practice."
Looking over to him, Perish grinned. "I won't go easy on you as I did with Sarah."
That was scary. Kaz had seen what Perish did to Sarah during her training, and that was brutal. But he needed to get stronger, so he decided to take her up on the offer. For a week, they sparred, and it was the most grueling thing Kaz had ever done. Each day they would wake up and begin their combat training. Each night they would eat food and put the paste on their wounds. It was painful, but in the process, something happened that made Kaz happy.
FEAT AQUIRED- Weapon Focus- blades, able to use blades with moderate skill. Time and effort were put into learning this.
Strength + 1, Constitution +1, Body +1, Recovery +1
Just with a week of training, Kaz was able to increase his skills and gain a new feat. It was amazing what this system could do. He felt like his body had grown more robust, and he could fight longer towards the end of the week. If he could do this more often, he thought about what kind of powerhouse he could become.
Opening up his Character sheet to see all the new changes, he noticed a new mission had popped up.
MAINLINE MISSION ACQUIRED- Revive your tribe.
Your tribe has been taken out twice now. Build up an army of Kobold and start your tribe again. As they say, third times the charm!
Reward- 10 Character points, +1 to all stats, Feat- Leadership
Failure- -3 to all stats, - Curse- Tainted Followers.
Time Limit- 89 days 23 hours
That worried Kaz. He had three months to get a new tribe together and keep it going. That time-limit seemed like it was generous, but who knew how long until they could make it across the border. It was still another week until Sarah and Peter were to show up, so that took a week off his schedule. He needed to prioritize his time now that he had a goal in mind. The penalty for failure looked pretty steep.
"How long does it take to get to the border, Perish?"
"It takes anywhere from a week up to three weeks, depending on what route we take."
Three weeks was a long time, which means he already had a month cut off of his time to dedicate to building a tribe. So in actuality, he had about two months. Not including anything else that might pop up during this time. It was decided. He needed to head to the border sooner rather than later. Once Sarah and Peter showed up, the only thing left would be to figure out how to get Perish across the border safely.
"We have a way for the humans and me to get across, but what about you?"
Looking away for a moment, Perish sighs. "What if I stayed here?"
That caught Kaz by surprise. When did she start feeling this way? I thought they were all going to cross the border together as a group. She was his most reliable companion, and he really wanted to turn her into a general or trainer. "What made you change your mind?"
"The kobolds back there...We could have done something more to help them, but we didn't"
"It was my inexperience as a leader that caused their downfall. I should have taken it more seriously."
He knew that for a fact. He treated it more like a game than real life, and because of that, he lost so many people. If he had only acted sooner and taken out the two adventurers, he would have his tribe still. Perish was obviously wounded by the experience. She took out a young girl and watched as a crippled man bled to death in front of here. It was not the sweet victories Kaz was used to in MMOs. This has lasting consequences.
Looking to Perish, Kaz continued. "I need someone with a better understanding of people management and training. I could really use your assistance."
She tried to look him in the eye, but her gaze kept shifting to the ground. "I am not as strong as you think I am. I only fight to protect and survive." She began to tear up. "I hate killing people. I wish we could all just get along!"
He wanted to agree with her, but he knew the vicious nature of humans. Even if they could somehow get along with the humans, it would only be temporary before they found a reason to kill or hurt them. If he was going to change this world, he was going to have to get his hands dirty. If she were not willing to join him on his mission, he would not force it.
"If you don't feel safe traveling with me any more than I shall take my leave. The last thing I want to do is be a burden on you and the others."
Slowly packing up his stuff, Kaz felt a little weak in the knees. He did not want to be alone again, but he also wasn't going to force her to stay with him. Perish paused and watched him pack. She felt guilty for saying those words, but it was honestly how she felt. She was conflicted because she knew he would grow to be something great if he could make it across the border, but it would also mean more bloodshed, and she had become quite tired of that.
"Please don't go yet..." Perish mumbled as she stuck her hand out to grab his arm. Her warm touch comforted Kaz for a moment, and he just looked into her eyes. She was fighting something, but he could not tell what it was.