"Whoever completes this quests will have so many points accumulated given the difficulty involved, judging by that silly cloak you are all wearing aren't you members of the Raging Phoenix? The lowest ranked guild in the Ronowa Empire? Isn't this a glorious opportunity? Now are you going to accept or do I have to find someone that's willing?" Deskus proclaimed with a serious look in his eyes.
The three individuals remained silent for a while, the decision was quite difficult as it concerned increasing the reputation of their guild. But even at that, it meant risking their town to the paradoxes.
"We'll do it." Michael broke the silence, coming to an agreement with the terms laid down by Deskus.
"Michael.." Abigail uttered, she was a bit shocked at his approval to the quest.
Deskus smirked, he knew very well that commoners like Rai and Michael would be willing to do anything to accumulate points for their inferior guild. "Perfect." Deskus stated as he relaxed into his chair.
"The conditions for completing this task are simple, report back here once you have acquired the Celestial Prism." Deskus said as one of his butlers alighted the staircase and presented to the individuals, a scroll that rested on a silver tray.
"This scroll contains the location of the Celestial Prism, it is also a roadmap to the paths that will lead you directly to it. Good luck." Deskus concluded, he never intended on wasting time explaining the details of the quest. As it stands the paradoxes could already be one or two steps ahead of them.
Micheal nodded in affirmation as he took the scroll from the tray and clutched it tightly within his right hand.
Rai, Michael and Abigail got up, now that their quest has been officially explained it was time to set out. It was going to be a long journey but hopefully the results would reciprocate the amount of efforts put in.
They left the mansion in order to begin their quest, however Abigail still haboured some uncertainties that she needed to clear.
"Why would you agree to such a quest Micheal?" Abigail asked demanding answers to his actions.
"Wasn't it obvious?" Micheal replied.
"Wasn't what obvious?" Abigail asked again growing even more confused.
"If we didn't accept the quest, Deskus would have gotten rid of us in order to prevent the information reaching the king. He wouldn't care if you're the princess or not, judging by how desperate he is to acquire that prism and our refusal to help him. He would have terminated us. Moreover we have to bare the responsibility of destroying that prism, we absolutely cannot let Deskus get his hands on it." Rai answered.
Micheal chuckled softly, he was quite pleased to know that Rai had caught on quickly. Truly it was as though he read his mind word for word.
"Ohh, I see." Abigail mumbled gaining an understanding of Michael's true motives.
"Even at that we still have to be careful, Deskus was right after all. The difficulty of this quest just shot up from D-Rank to C-Rank now that we know there is a possibility that paradoxes might be involved." Michael warned.
The trio got into a carriage and began their first quest as an Essenmage, this being specific to Rai and Abigail. "According to the scroll, the prism is located in the forest. In the ruins of an ancient temple deep within the Hachi mountain. This mountain is considered to be sacred and there are rumors that it has mysterious guardians that watches over it." Micheal read out the contents of the scroll to his teammates as the carriage moved towards it's destination.
"Mysterious...guardians? Great." Rai sighed as it sounded like the mission got more difficult by the second.
"Well what would you expect from an ancient temple? I wager there's bound to be more things like booby traps or some ancient contraptions that is designed to kill the human body." Abigail uttered with a sick smile on her face, she found being entangled in near death situations extremely pleasurable. After all surviving in the wild for years is what got her the nickname of a beast.
"Huh, Lucious didn't hold back at all did he?" Rai scoffed.
"No he absolutely did not." Micheal replied as he folded the scroll and put it aside. It took a total of two hours for them to arrive at their destination, the carriage that transported them stopped several meters away from the forest. The rider of the carriage dared not enter such sacred grounds and the horse could relate.
The three individuals alighted the carriage and settled him.
"I guess we go on foot from here." Michael said as they approached the entrance to the forest.
"So princess, I heard you spent some years in the wild. That means you know your way around these particular geographic regions don't you?" Rai queried.
"Are you trying to refer to me as some sort of navigator Rai Voltia?" Abigail questioned him with a stern look.
"Well if you see it like that, sure why not. But just think of yourself as our only option, you have more experience in this field than us. So...help us not get lost." Rai answered, attempting to sway Abigail with her accomplishments.
However Abigail was not your typical woman who got carried away easily by emotions, in her quest for greater strength she substituted emotions for power. And with her current power, her decision to do so was not in vain.
"Do you take me for a fool Rai Voltia? Of course I know you two stand no chances of survival in the wild." She said as she approached the forest.
"For the record, your futile attempt to convince me is laughable." She added.
"Hehehe but it worked didn't it?" Rai chuckled.
"Get serious would you? You are joking in front of sacred grounds are you trying to get us killed?" Micheal said with a bit of worry as the three immediately regained their focus.
"Okay okay, let's do this." Rai responded with a determined look in his eyes.