Groaning-
Flint sat down.
He had a dream-
A dream he couldn't remember.
But at the same time- he perhaps didn't want to remember it. After all, his eyes were leaking.
And he felt miserable.
Wiping the tears and snot off his face, he put on some clothes, in the form of a shirt and headed out to wash his face.
He wanted to wash himself, at least bathe once but given the number of wounds on his body and the herbs just slithered on, it was probably not a great idea.
So, though stinky, he had to deal with his odor.
"Oh, good morning. You wake up early, huh?" She said.
"Given how I slept in the afternoon, I wouldn't say that-" Flint paused. "Good morning, Miss Erveine."
There weren't many in here.
One or two staff members and maybe one or two students.
"Feeling better?"
"Much." Flint stretched and regretted a second later, groaning… "Okay maybe not so much." A faint chuckle from both- "I want to wash my face and-"
"That room over there-"
"Thank you."
Erveine watched the boy go.
She still thought of him as a boy.
No, that wasn't quite it. She wanted to think of him as a boy. So young- so much potential. A boy.
Yet-
Some part of her knew-
That was no longer a boy.
He was a man.
A man seeking revenge.
And a man seeking-
Death.
***
After washing up came breakfast.
Steamed sweet potato, one boiled egg, and some milk.
That's it.
Not bad.
Not great either.
But with that out of the way, Flint swiftly made way for the exit.
And got his arm snatched by the professor waiting all this time- "Weren't you going to enroll today?" She said, undoing the invisibility spell.
Flint took a mental note of learning that first later on for researching and escaping purposes btu first- "For that I need money. I'm going out to make that money first."
"And I'm coming with you," Erveine said.
"I'm sorry but I'll be going out as an adventurer."
"Then I'll-"
"Please-" Flint got out of her grasp. "You've done enough. Let me handle my own affairs."
It stung a bit to say those words- to his benefactor.
But he had to.
He couldn't be babied and spoiled forever.
He needed money for his own sake and he had to get it on his own.
And he could make enough money if he just put his brains to it too. Or so he argued with himself.
"Alright but- be sure to flee the moment you think it's dangerous. You wouldn't want to die before your revenge, right?"
Lips curving up. "OF course not!" A grin.
Flint left.
***
Streets getting busier by the second, it took some searching to reach the guild.
And once there-
Flint just stared around.
"It's empty?" He wondered.
"Most adventurers have either gone on quests or are just sleeping peacefully in bed."
"And there's no middle ground…." Flint mumbled.
"Yes there is, you." She smiled, pointing.
A slight shiver went down his spine…
The receptionist… the dangerous one…
"I didn't catch your name miss…" He said, staring at the quest board.
"Ariel… Sanders."
[Rescue my cat from the depths of the well! 100 Silvers!]
[Find my cat of the nire! 100 Silvers!]
[Execute my neighbor's cat! 12000 Silvers!]
[Deal with my neighbor! 12000 Silvers; condition, must accept the former quest!]
Flint sighed… "By the way, how come this guy is offering 120 gold twice for-"
"Oh, that's probably a fake quest. The two above too. Those two were put on by children so they probably don't have the money and collecting it would be a hassle. The one below was put on by an old man sick of their neighbor…."
"If you know they're fake, why'd you put them on?"
"Cause they paid us to…" A full wide PR grin.
I see… "Any other good quest?"
There were others of course.
But those paid way, way less.
[Slay the eight Goblins attacking my field at night- 45 silvers!]
And quite vague at that too.
[Eradicate the Orc that comes at midnight and howls! 120 Silvers!]
"How about this then?" Ariel handed him a piece of paper.
[Keep my daughter busy for a whole day- 800 Silvers!]
"Seems too good to be true. Plus, I need a lot more money."
Also, Flint didn't like it.
Both because it came from the receptionist and also because he didn't understand what 'keeping' someone's daughter busy meant.
Frankly, he didn't want any trouble.
"Then how about this one too while you're at it?"
"Guard my daughter for a whole day while she travels outside-" Flint read it out loud…. Why? But of course- "5000 Silvers!? That's fifty gold!" He stared daggers at the receptionist girl. "This gotta be fake!"
And the requirement clearly stated Flint needed to be at least a B rank- aka- level 51 and up!
She giggled. She giggled way too loudly. "Nope. It's from the Baron; he's a patron. It's legit." She came closer- "And just for you, I'll even slip this in…" A wink-
Flint got a card…
A pretty orange card… B+ Rank.
"How come no one took this?" Flint wondered.
"Well… his daughter has issues…" She looked away for a second. "But-" She emphasized. "You need money, right? Plus, this quest won't involve you fighting monsters: So, it's a win!"
"And I feel like I'm making a deal with the devil too…" Flint sighed. "How much do you want for this card?"
But he couldn't disagree. This was a great chance.
A great chance to make some good money and solve all these problems without fighting.
"One date!" A full wide grin. "And about ten gold, should do."
Flint sighed. "One date and five-"
"Two dates and three gold!"
"Deal…" He cleared his throat. "Please tell Amanda that I won't be able to go out hunting today-" Flint paused.
"Amanda?" The woman looked, smiled, eyes kind of lifeless, blank. "That large tits?"
Flint slowly stepped back.
'She's bad news…' He cleared his throat and located another receptionist- "Miss Frey- please tell Amanda I won't he here today-" Flint hurriedly backstepped out of the guild with the pieces of paper in hand…
Meanwhile-
A pair of blank glaring eyes just saw him out… "Am…anda? That sack of tits…" She mumbled… grumbled… and even sniffed.
"Just go back to work-" Frey slammed her head with a stack of paper. "And he forgot to get his quest stamped. He won't be paid."
"I'd already stamped it for him…" Ariel pouted… "He didn't even thank me!"
"There, there…" Frey, the elf patted Ariel's back…
"I'm not a kid!" She whined…
Yet-
Frey stared at her, a faint smile. "Really?"