After returning to the house, Sydra headed said good night to the sisters and headed to the guest room. It was small, with only a dresser and a bed in the room. Falling onto the bed, Sydra stared up at the ceiling and began thinking about what kind of quest he should take tomorrow.
'Tomorrow I'm meeting Erich at the Guildhall, but I'm not sure what quest was going on. I should probably go on a quest against monsters so I can try and gain a new power before the expedition.' Sydra thought, slowly falling to sleep. The next morning, he was woken to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking. Getting out of bed, Sydra headed to the kitchen to see Echo cooking food at the stove.
"Good morning, how was your night?" Echo asked as she brought over two plates of food.
"It was good, I had to open the window in the night because it got a bit hot though. By the way, where is Philo?" Sydra asked looking around the house for her.
"She already left for work this morning. She told me to tell you goodbye and that she will see you when you come back tonight." Echo responded as she began eating her food.
"Tonight? Why will she see me tonight?" Sydra asked as he began eating his food as well. Although the bacon wasn't the same as it was on earth, it was still surprisingly good.
"Well, do you have a place to spend the night after you finish up your quest today?" She asked, pointing out the fact that Sydra was still homeless even though he had a home.
"So you guys want me to spend another night here? Why though? He asked, as he finished up his food and took care of his plate. Once it was clean, Sydra headed back to the table and finished up his juice.
"Isn't it obvious? We can only swim in your pond if you stay the night here. Do you not plan on spending the night here?" She asked confused about where Sydra could go instead.
"Sorry, but no. After Erich and I finish up our quest today, we are meeting Robert and Cidre at the Guildhall to be able to get up and go tomorrow." Sydra explained, apologizing as he headed to the bathroom to change into his leather armor. Coming back out, Sydra put his boots on and turned to look at Echo. "What cafe does Philo work at, I'll stop there and tell her goodbye?" He asked.
"Oh, she works at the Window Cafe, on the corner of Hour Lane. Will we ever see you again?" Echo asked, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching Sydra open the door.
"Of course, in about a year I will be back," Sydra said, leaving the house and heading to the cafe to say goodbye to Philo. Once that was done, Sydra headed to the Guildhall to meet up with Erich. Pushing open the doors, he saw Erich, dressed in dark red armor, standing next to the quest board.
"Hey Erich, any ideas on what quest we should do?" Sydra asked walking up beside Erich and looking at the board. There was a large number of quests on the board, but most of them had to do with small-time stuff. What Erich and Sydra were looking for was a quest to fight monsters.
"Yeah, I think we should take this one," Erich said while pointing at a quest that had to do with slaying a few Fireback Turtles. Not only could their shells be used as fire-resistant shields, but blacksmiths could also use the bulb at the end of the turtle's tails in forges. The bulb was able to heat a forge for a long time, and a lot of the dwarves who had come into town were hoping to get their hands on one.
"Although the reward is good and it is in our ability to handle, those turtles are hard to find. Why do you seem so confident in this quest?" Sydra asked, glancing at the other quest on the board before deciding the turtle one would be the best if they could find the turtle.
"I'll tell you later, for now just trust me on this one," Erich said, as he pulled out his insignia and placed it on the quest sheet. Pulling it away, Sydra could see Erich's mark on the quest, showing that they had claimed this one.
"Sure, if you are that confident in it, I'll trust you," Sydra said as he added his mark to the quest as well. Since they were done choosing a quest, Sydra and Erich made sure they had everything before heading out.
...
"Dang, this place is hot, where did you take us anyway? I don't recognize this area, and I haven't seen anyone else here either." Sydra said as he stepped over a rock, only to have it shoot up into the air behind him. Erich had lead Sydra through the mountain range, to an area that was filled with geysers and was incredibly hot. Even with the backpack from Pop-pop that could regulate the temperature around Sydra he still had sweat dripping off his face like it was raining.
"This place is the resting grounds for Fireback Turtles, and not many people know about it since it is hidden inside the mountain range. I found this place on accident, while I was chasing a Luminous Night Deer. Up ahead is where all the turtles are, be careful while approaching as they are hostile." Erich said, pulling out his mace and squatting down behind a rock to scout ahead. Looking at the daggers in his hands, Sydra wondered if he would even be able to damage the turtles.
'Great, what am I supposed to do with these?' Sydra thought as he put the daggers away, before thinking of what weapon would be suitable for cracking the shells of the turtles. He had a few choices that he had acquired from the ruins and never sold, and in the end, decided to use a war-hammer imbued with his lightning aura.
"Do you see any?" Sydra asked, standing behind the rock with Erich. Peeking out from the rock, he was able to spot a few of the turtles fighting each other.
"Yeah, I think we should wait until the turtles are done fighting each other and take out the loser. It seems there will be quite a few fights today, considering this is the time where the turtles elect a new pack leader." Erich said as he eyed two of the turtles fighting, with one of them being completely outmatched. A few minutes later the winner was decided and the losing turtle scuttled away. Following that turtle, Erich and Sydra attacked it once it had gotten far enough away.
"You know, I feel kind of bad for the turtle," Sydra said as he scavenged it for the parts they needed. The turtle meat and bones would also be sold to restaurants to be used in their foods, as this was the only way for restaurants to get the meat they needed.
"Don't forget, once these turtles are defeated they are exiled from the turtle pack and left to die. If we hadn't killed it, it would have just become infected and died a slow death." Erich said while scouting for another turtle to go after.
"Yeah, that makes sense. I think I see another turtle overt there." Sydra said, as he sent all the turtle parts into the Arbor Sanctum and had the tree take care of them. Standing up, Sydra put the daggers he had been using to clean the turtle away and pointed in the direction a turtle was stumbling in.
"Nice, let's get that one too," Erich said as they rushed off after the turtle.
A few hours later Erich and Sydra could be seen sitting against a rock and drinking some water. So far they had collected seven turtles with only a few injuries to themselves. Since the war-hammer wasn't a weapon Sydra was proficient in, he had made a miscalculation in the last battle that had allowed the turtle to get a hit in.
"Do you want to call it a day? We got a lot of them already." Erich asked as Sydra healed the two of them. After being hit with the green lightning, Sydra's ability to regenerate was incredibly fast, and the two of them were healed quickly.
"I was thinking we could go after one that wasn't already hurt, and see how we do," Sandra said, hoisting the war-hammer above his shoulder. So far he hadn't been able to receive any of the turtle's aurae because they were already close to death when Sydra killed them. Since Sydra had also come out here to be able to acquire a new power, he wasn't willing to go back before he had.
"Sure, I also want to see what I am capable of when it comes to a fully healed turtle." Erich said, getting pumped up for the battle. Walking around for a bit, Erich and Sydra searched for one of the less damaged turtles. As they rounded a rock, they stopped in their tracks and stared at the turtle in front of them. It was four meters tall, with a long tail and a huge bulb at the end of it. Sticking out of the turtles shell were long red spikes, and as the tail swung fire spewed out of it. The entire turtle was covered in thick shells, leaving only the stomach that was low to the ground uncovered.
"Seems this Fireback turtle has left the Evolved Rank and entered the King rank. Do you think you can handle this as a D-rank adventure?" Erich asked as they quickly hid behind a rick before the turtle had seen them.
"Yeah, lets do this." Sydra said, covering himself in bone armor and getting ready to fight.