The sun rises upon the lands, shining its blessings upon all. As the rays of light wake the creatures within the forest, so does it awaken Akira. Well, it at least tries to.
"ughhhh, sun just away gooooooo" she groaned as she tried to cover her face with her arm, blocking the sun's rays from reaching her eyes.
Nature seemed to awaken as she complained, birds began to sing their song and critters could be seen running on the forest floor. The small animals in the woods seemed to work together in perfect harmony to create this peaceful presence within the forest, Akira felt comfortable where she lay and everything around her kept her mind at peace. She simply did not want to lose this moment, all she wanted was for this paradise to never end and be able to stay in this moment forever.
The calming sound of the wind, the warm sun shining on her, the sound of dancing leaves and friendly animals. All was well, she felt true peace in that moment but she knew that it couldn't last, nothing could ever stay this perfect.
She forced herself up and groggily began to pack up her stuff. Animals began gathering around her as she packed, they seemed curious as to what she was doing. Seeing all these creatures gathering around, she set aside a little present for them and began leaving.
They all seemed to flock around her little present, it seemed like they were hungry. After taking care of that boar, she couldn't take all of it. Its body was too big for her to carry and so she gave it back to nature. Those creatures had been oppressed by that fearsome beast for far too long, now they could live in peace.
"I wish I could be like them.." she mumbled to herself as she looked up at the sky, admiring the birds.
She quickly made her way back to the Jaded Dragon, walking through the multiple dark alleyways and filled streets finally standing in front of the broken sign that began this adventure.
Right as she opened the door leading into the tavern, she was filled with a warm fuzzy feeling. The atmosphere of the tavern was infectious, the people were laughing and singing, they were dancing and joking. Everything was so bright and warm until she stepped in through that door. They all began to look in her direction, the tension in the room was suffocating. Akira made her way towards the back, to the reception where she signed her request. As she walked, words flooded the tavern.
"-they even human?"
"that's scary, why are they even here?"
"what are they doing walking around like that.."
"look at their eyes, so scary!"
Their words were echoing through her mind, memories she had long forgotten resurfaced as she marched forwards. She made it to the reception at the back and knocked on the countertop in front of her, a bubbly girl popped up from the back, her smile seemingly infectious.
"Welcome to the Jaded Dragon! How may I help you today?"
It was a young girl, she was wearing the uniform of the tavern, her eyes were as deep as the sea, her smile beaming with joy, her wavy honey blonde seemingly reflecting the light of the tavern's lanterns. Akira couldn't help but feel warm in the presence of this girl, her warm nature being the opposite of her own.
"I am here to confirm the completion of a request," Akira spoke, her words carrying a cold tone to them. It was unintentional to appear cold to others but the girl in front of her was unfazed.
"Is that so, can I get your name, the quest you accepted and proof of completion?" She beamed, her voice being melodic but light at the same time.
"Ahh, yes of course. Abaddon, boar subjugation."
Akira quickly reached into her bag, taking out various parts of the boar. She had a piece of its ear, its tongue and a part of its pelt. As she placed these items on the counter, she couldn't help but feel the people of the tavern staring daggers into her back.
"Uhm let's see.. Ahh yes, found it... boaarrrr.. boaarrrrr- There it is! ... WHOA YOU DID THIS??!!" She shouted, realising her mistake she quickly covered her mouth. Akira couldnt help but laugh at this action, this girl's joy was simply infectious.
"Yes, I took it down on my own. Why, is there something wrong?" She answered.
"AHH- I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to question you like this-!" The girl began apologising profusely, bowing constantly. Seeing this gesture, Akira couldn't help but smile at this girls liveliness but that seemed to make the girl apologise more. Her smile made even those behind her feel pity for the girl but Akira didn't know that.
"The reward is 300 stymele! Would you like me to transfer it to an account or do you want it now?" She quickly regained her composure and put on a dignified front as she spoke.
'300 STYMELE??? That much, what would I even do with that amount of money!?' The thought of 300 stymele rampaged in her mind but she knew that she needed a place to keep it. She couldn't possibly carry that much on her, no longer was her old account an option as the government froze it as she tried to buy new clothes for the task.
'If my past salary was 20 styl and 1 stymele is considered to be 100 styl.... 30 000 STYL!!!!????? T-t-that much money!!!???' She began to shake at the prospect of that much money.
"Is it possible to open an account here?" She would ask cautiously.
"Of course!" Her smile grew wider as she worked on something through her computer.
"There we go! Here- take this." The girl handed Akira a piece of paper alongside what seemed like jewellery.
"Jewellery, what is this for?" She questioned as she picked up the piece of parchment before her.
"We'll need to be able to verify if it's you that's accessing the acount right?" She answered whilst rummaging through various items behind the desk.
As Akira looked closer at the jewel before her, she sensed a faint feeling of Yrna. It was faint, but still there, the touch of a god was most definitely there. She would turn the jewel back and forth, trying to look for the source of this feeling. Before she could turn it around for the 5th time, a head popped up from behind the desk, it was the girl. She now carried a large stone tablet, although the form of this tablet was ragged and unrefined a feeling of power exuded from it. As the receptionist placed the tablet on the desk before them, a small burst of Yrna could be felt from this ancient rock.
"What is this?" The surroundings of the tablet were pulsating, or it felt like it was pulsating. It was warm and comfortable, the essence of the gods woven deep into it's very being.
A smirk could be seen as she began to explain "This, my dear Abbadon, is what I like to call a measurer. It measures one's potential and current status, or something like that I don't really know!" Her smile grew wider as she gave her explanation of this device brought before her.
". . ."
The silence between the two was loud, only the laughter and cheers of the tavern folk could be heard in the background as the two girls stared at eachother.
"You.. don't know?" Akira managed to utter, dumbfounded at this girl's knowladge on the subject.
"O-of course I know!" Her smile was now quivering, before Akira could say anything else the girl dove back down under the desk and the sounds of items being thrown and rummaged through broke the silence between them.
[What was that about?] a voice echoed through her mind.
"AHH!" Her voice carried through the tavern and a few of the guests began to turn their head in the direction of the noise.
Embarrased by the sudden attention, she would turn her head away and face the desk.
'Stop doing that! You scared me, why do you always suddenly pop up at the worst of times!' murmuring could now be heard behind her, surely discussing what they thought was wrong with her.
[Mhm, yea sure anyway. That tablet there is quite interesting.]
'Hey, don't just ignore me now!' Her thoughts were drwoned out as a command echoed loudly through her mind, beckoning her closer to the tablet.
[Get closer to the tablet, let me see what calls to us]
As Akira drew closer to the tablet, she couldn't help but pick it up. The craftmanship of the stone was nothing special as it had the appearence of a ragged rock, worn from time. It's edges were smooth but something caught her eye, as she felt around the back of the tabled, etchings could be felt. her finger glided across several etchings and she quickly but carefully flipped the stone table over. On it's back, several markings lay, runes she had never laid eyes upon before were now before her.
"What is this?" She couldn't help but whisper, the cerrations in the rock are faded but still visible. They marks were small enough that if you did not know they were there, you could have easily missed it.
[I see.. you can put it down again now.]
Akira swiftly placed the tablet carefully back to it's original spot, her eyes lingered on the object as she questioned it's purpose.
'A measurer, is that really what it is? What did you find out?' She questioned her God and waited, the answer she longed for would surely come forth.
[. . .]
Silence was all she was met with as she had realised that the god she looked to for guidence has most definitely left.
Before being able to utter another word or think another thought, the girl behind the reception popped her head back up from under the desk. "I have found it!" she panted as she handed Akira a piece of paper, stained with a bit of coffee and water.
"This is filled with information and details about the use and origin of this device!" She quickly said, proud of what she had found.
As she spoke, she picked up the parchment and began to scan the page. She continued to read but as she went on, her face went paler.
"Wha-what?" her voice trembled, worry plastered on her face.
"Is something wrong? Is there something wrong with the tablet?"
"This paper, it's- it's useless!"
As those words left her mouth, a wave of surprise, shock and relief came to Akira. Confusion settled within her as she wondered what this girl was speaking of.
"What are you talking about?"
"This- this paper, most of it is redacted!" her hand moved swiftly, shoving this seemingly useless peice of paper in Akira's face.
Looking at it she realised what the girl meant by 'redacted', most of the page was filled with a black marker, the information unintelligible.
"What?"