Aster awoke to an unfamiliar warmth.
A thick quilt was draped over him. The edges of the quilt were charred from the night before.
It was a thank you, but also a reminder. He was not welcome.
The night had not been kind to him, he felt worse than when he laid down, but considering the position of the sun in the sky, it was time to get up.
Aster stood up and folded up the quilt, leaving it neatly next to the fountain.
He planned to just choose and start walking, so he followed the largest path out of the square, hoping it would lead to some sort of established road.
Only a couple minutes into his walk of shame, he heard a loud yell from behind him.
"HEY! BRO! YOU FORGOT YOUR BLANKET!"
A boy, likely only a year or two younger, ran after him, carrying the quilt that he had left in the square.
Aster stopped and looked at him as he approached.
He was a well-groomed young man with fiery red hair and a strong smile.
He arrived shortly and handed Aster the blanket.
"Ah, thank you," Aster said quietly. After all of the harsh reactions he had received yesterday, he felt slightly subdued talking to the townspeople.
"No worries, thank you for helping out with the fires yesterday. The older folk here are, well... Once they see you as a demon, it's hard to change their minds." He said with a short chuckle.
Aster nodded, unsure of what to say.
"My name is Shevron, by the way. What's yours?"
"I'm Aer," Aster took a deep breath. "If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know." He looked around once more. "They didn't deserve this."
For a millisecond, a scary look slipped its way onto Shevron's face, quickly replaced by another smile.
"You're right about that, you are. Hmm, I might have an idea of how you could help. What's your path and echelon?"
Aster stared blankly. Echelon?
"My path is support, but I am not sure what you mean by echelon..." Aster responded, confused.
"Can't you just check your status?" He asked.
"I'm not really sure how to do that."
"You should just be able to focus on the thought 'status,' and it will appear." the young man said as if it was natural.
"Alright, I'll try it."
Aster took a deep breath.
Status.
Nothing happened.
Status
Once again, nothing.
"Imagine yourself shouting the word in your mind." Shevron chimed in.
STATUS!
Suddenly, a partially transparent menu appeared before him, reminiscent of the mirror in the void.
> [STATUS]
- Name: `Aer`
- Title: `None`
I guess I am officially Aer now...
- Account Tier: `Iron`
- Outstanding balance: `$23,500,000`
Aster winced. Seeing that number never got easier.
- Path: `Support (Pending)`
- Echelon: `Pathless`
- Feats Completed: `None`
"It says my echelon is pathless? It also says that my support path is pending, it might have something to do with that. I am also not sure what Feats Completed means," Aster spoke his thoughts aloud.
"Oh, that makes sense! You did just arrive here. Your echelon is the rank of your path, it requires you to complete impressive feats to increase it. Those could be anything from defeating a powerful beast to saving a town to unraveling a mystery. But don't worry, you don't have to complete any feats for the first one, it just takes your mana pathways some time to form after beginning your path," Shevron responded.
"Mana pathways? What are those?" Aster responded, still confused and a little intimidated.
Shevron stopped for a moment, placing a hand upon his chin.
"Well, I am not the most knowledgeable on this stuff... Your mana pathways determine how mana flows through your body, where it pools and gathers."
Aster nods blankly as he follows along.
"Your path determines how these pathways and pools form. For example, a swordsman's mana pools in their hands." Shevron lectures, looking vaguely proud of himself.
"How does this work for a support path?" Aster asked, eagerly.
"Well... the support path is..." Shevron sighed. "I can't really speak to the support class because I have never met one. Most people pick a more specific path than support, it is a very vague path."
It felt as if someone had just poured ice-cold water onto Aster. He felt deflated.
Shevron instantly picked up on this, "It's not that there are no support paths, I am sure you'll meet some eventually! Anyway, this stuff doesn't matter right now, your pathways haven't even formed yet! Let's take a look at the rest of your status!"
- Stats:
`Constitution: 11`
`Stamina: 9`
`Strength: 9`
`Dexterity: 8`
`Intelligence: 7`
`Mana: 2`
- Abilities:
`None`
- Items: `
`White Buttoned Shirt (Common)`
`Black Pants (Common)`
`Black Boots (Common)`
`Burnt Quilt (Common, Unique)`
- Quests:
`None`
Aster listed off the rest of his status to Shevron.
"Well... It's within expectations. For a normal adult, having stats around the 10 mark is pretty average. Early adventurers usually shoot to reach their 20s. Your mana stat will likely go up as your pathways develop so don't worry about that." Shevron explained.
Aster simply nodded, feeling slightly deflated.
"You said you were looking to help out, right?" Shevron asked, looking at Aster with a hint of pity.
Aster looked up, eyes wide. "Yeah, anything."
A smile crept its way onto Shevron's face.
"Just north of here is an old storehouse that hunters used to use. It might still have some provisions. Your friends-" the look of disgust slipped back onto his face, "pillaged a good amount of the town's food, so anything you can find would be super helpful!" His smile quickly returned, but Aster couldn't help but suppress a shiver.
A prompt appeared before him.
> [NEW QUEST AVAILABLE]
- Name: `Supplies for Harboridge (Unique)`
- Difficulty: `Unknown`
- Recommended Party Size: `Unknown`
- Description: `After an unexpected raid, the town of Harboridge finds itself on it's last legs. Set out north towards an old storehouse in search of resources to help replenish the town's supplies.`
- Clear Requirements: `Return to Harboridge with new supplies within 10 days.`
- Clear Reward: `The respect of Harboridge.`
- Failure Penalty: `Banishment from Harboridge.`
> [ACCEPT] [DECLINE]
The two options floated before Aster. His mind raced. Not only was this the first quest he had come across, but it even had a unique modifier. This wasn't an opportunity that he would be able to get back.
Difficulty unknown, huh...
It was the only thing that stopped him from instantly accepting. He continued to read.
The respect of Harboridge? I guess that means I would get to stay. Banishment, well, that doesn't mean much, considering I am pretty much banished already. Doesn't that mean that there really isn't a penalty for failure? The unknown difficulty is scary, but I can always back out if I need to.
Aster smiled and held his arm out.
"I accept."
> [QUEST ACCEPTED]