(Book 1 Complete!) Side Quest [Isekai / LitRPG]

Cassandra cupped a palm, tucked it behind her hair, and massaged her neck as she continued on the road. Two days of travel had taken their toll on her. She glanced through the trees running parallel to them.

The blight had thinned, yet it was still close to the road. She and the others had been taking shifts to address the monsters, using the time to grind out levels and come up with creative ways of defeating the toadkin. While their necrotic attacks were painful, the monsters were lazier than her brother, Stetson. And yet Stetson is at least tolerated by father.

She peered through the thicket of trees that lined the road. Logan was testing out the Void version of his newest skill by teaming up with Mishki. Small flashes of gold shone where Nugget was busy directing the barrage of attacks. While she couldn't see the details, she caught enough glimpses to see that the monsters were puffing up a lot. When she had fought them beside Senna, practicing landing punches while Senna distracted them with disorienting flashes and bangs, they had puffed up only when they bothered to move from their locations.

From what she saw, though, they were puffing up while still in the sludge, which seemed to contract and thicken around them, slowing them with its tackiness. Then she heard a loud pop, followed shortly after by another.

Logan came out, his tousled black hair even messier than normal. Sweat glistened on his jaw, which caught the deepening golden sunlight that still hit the road at a slant.

"What was that?" Bromlin asked as he passed behind her to approach the other two.

"Two things, actually," Logan said.

The Exalted Kin took turns with Mishki in explaining. It had been a combination of their two newest skills.

Mishki had gained Tide of Nerves last night when a loud crash in the woods had woken Flick up in panic. The poor little squirrel had been having nightmares about the explosion in the blight, and the sound was so well-timed with his dream, it set him in a bout of panic as if he had woken up to relive the blast that had killed his family.

In soothing the squirrel, though, Mishki had received the ability to manipulate Fear levels. It was an interesting skill that allowed him to instill Fear as a defensive measure against higher-level targets, or cast Calm on lower-level ones. Fear had less effect when the target recognized the source, while Calm became more effective the more familiar the caster was to them.

Logan's skill was one he had received upon returning to the Void affinity. He called it Emburden Sigil. It split an active condition of his with the target.

Apparently, when Mishki had tried to afflict the monsters with a fear debuff, the monsters were hardly affected because they could tell the goble was the source. But, they found a loophole by afflicting Logan with Fear, who then shared the condition with the monsters.

Logan had known Mishki caused the fear, so it didn't really impact his combat. But that awareness restriction didn't apply when passed through his skill's link, causing the debuff to land. And that's why the monsters started inflating themselves in defense.

"If they get too big too fast," Logan finished explaining, "it creates a sort of suction seal in the sludge that holds them in place."

Nugget, who perched atop Logan's head, talons vanishing into Logan's tangled hair, received a pat with a warm chirp.

Cassandra smiled at the dragon. "I take it Nugget is the one who discovered this?"

"That's right," Logan said, giving the dragon another pat. Then he paused and cocked his brow. "Why, you don't think I could have?"

Cassandra laughed. "That's not at all what I meant."

Not missing a beat, Alden interrupted. "She may not have, but it was on my mind."

She liked seeing the elf with his playful jabs. She had her doubts about if the elf would actually stay with them now that he had the Life affinity that had driven him to join the Adventurers' Guild in the first place. But seeing Alden keep his cynical comments while steering them to a more light-hearted sarcasm made her suspect he enjoyed their presence.

Many early Mages' Guild members took on rough Adventurers' Guild contracts because it helped them gain affinities faster, and there was plenty of politics behind it.

Affinity-imparting items were rare drops, and often involved monsters. Plus, it could be a lot of work training someone to master an affinity.

The Mages' Guild likely believed they were being clever by offloading the hard work of finding the right opportunties, plus putting the burden of initial training on the Adventurers' Guild. That gave them more time to focus on study, without having to spend as much time going over the ins and outs of how to refine mana channels.

But she knew the Adventurers' Guild let them believe that, since it gave adventurers a quiet monopoly on the most profitable contracts.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The Mages' Guild probably knew that as well, though they were likely pursuing goals even she wasn't aware of.

The real test on Alden's commitment to their party would be once they reached Caerwyn. Surely Alden wouldn't completely separate himself from the Mages' Guild, but even though it was possible to advance in both, the guilds typically frowned on it beyond the early stages.

"So," Logan said as he sidled up beside Cassandra. "How are you feeling?"

"Hm? Oh, fine."

He had been asking that a lot lately. For someone who struck her as perceptive—he had quickly tapped into her feelings for her father even when they had first met—he apparently lacked the skill to make himself inconspicuous. It was obvious he had a boyish interest in her, and while he had a certain charm about him, she still wasn't sure how she felt about him. He was a stranger from a strange place.

"You sure?"

She nodded and gave a mildly irritated cough.

"Sorry," he said. "I just feel bad about the whole skill-potion thing."

"I told you it was fine, Logan."

"I know. I just can't get those levels of dread out of my mind."

Cassandra missed a step. Dread was a strong word. She didn't dread her family. She might not be looking forward to confronting her father, but to use the word… dread…

Oh spheres. She did dread returning home.

Logan was biting his lip and looking down at her, hand extended to help her steady herself.

She accepted it, although her arms felt numb.

"I suppose I didn't even realize it was dread." She stared into his brown eyes.

Something about him made her feel noticed. Not in the way others noticed her for personal gain, but simply because he was interested in her.

"Well," he said, "it was a pretty strong feeling. And I've felt it before too."

"Thanks," she said as he squeezed her hand lightly. Then she stumbled, not over her feet, but over his words. "What do you mean by that?"

He shrugged and was already back to his disarming aloof self. "Oh, you know. When you've got a bunch of deadlines closing in and you feel trapped."

"No, Logan, I know what dread is. But you said 'it was a pretty strong feeling.' What was?"

His brow quirked upward before easing back down. "Oh. You know that tracking skill I have? It's called Unrelenting Hunt when its Void-aligned. But under the Dream affinity, it's called Moodprint. It lets me detect the single strongest mood coming from a person." He tapped a finger against Nugget's tail, which was draped over his shoulder. "This little guy, for example, gets really hungry, and… Cassandra?"

Air came in through her slightly parted lips. She could see the outline of her brow blocking part of her sight as her brows ridged. "Are you saying," she said, "you've been tracking my mood?"

"Huh? Oh, no. It doesn't work like that. It's only the strongest… feeling… uh…" He scratched the left side of his neck with his right finger. "Why do I feel like that doesn't matter?"

All this idea of Logan being attentive, was that just a false feeling? All this time, was he just using his skills to charm her? Surely not, if this related to his Dream affinity. He had only just received that.

She sighed and shook her head. He claimed Perception was his highest stat, and she didn't have a reason to doubt him. But she still felt as if her personal space had been violated.

Try to remember, he's new to how the world works.

Anybody who grew up with the System knew it was common decency not to use skills to pry into others' personal space. Whenever he spoke of his skills, though, a certain light shone in his eyes. Perhaps he was just enchanted by the ability to excel in new areas, and maybe that was blinding him to what she figured should be basic manners.

His ability to pick up on some subtle nuances but not others baffled her, but many things he did baffled her.

Despite all that, he had still supported her in ways even her family hadn't.

"Logan, walk with me."

Logan's face was still warm, even after dinner.

Bromlin had invited him over to talk, but it was clearly out of kindness.

Logan smiled, thanked him, and politely declined before retreating to his bedroll.

He excused himself with a self-conscious smile before retiring to his bedroll for the night.

He had explained Moodprint to Cassandra earlier, and the others had overheard. It wasn't a secret. He'd already mentioned it to Alden during their first fight with the toadkin.

Mishki hadn't seemed to care at all. Bromlin and Senna didn't appear bothered either.

Still, he wondered how Bromlin or Senna would feel if they knew he had sensed their concern for each other back when they'd fought the Arcstrike Thrasher. Probably not great.

A part of him wished he could use Moodprint now, if only he had the Dream affinity. But even if he did, he knew better than to follow that intrusive thought.

In hindsight, he felt like a prick. Cassandra had been kind by laying into him after they had left the group. She didn't really lay into me. That was just his still-self-conscious self trying to build up defenses.

And why be defensive? These were friends. It was like she said… for someone so perceptive, he apparently lacked some common sense when it came to decency.

Nugget flitted over from the fire and landed on his shoulder. At least Nugget was a welcome presence. He wanted to be alone, but the dragon was an exception.

"Thanks for the company, buddy."

Nugget chirped in response.

Logan had promised Cassandra he wouldn't use Moodprint on her again, and then repeated the promise to the others.

Mishki had just laughed, saying he'd grown up with an entire tribe sharing a mental connection. His laugh only faded when he noticed the others' silence.

Logan was grateful the situation hadn't blown up and knew he would feel better tomorrow.

Cassandra wasn't angry, just annoyed. He wasn't sure if he even had a chance with Cassandra, but at least she respected Logan enough to be patient with him. He probably didn't even deserve that.

He had to remind himself that he was truly lucky to be traveling with people who didn't make him feel like crap, but he also had to be more aware of them and their boundaries.

The next morning, Logan got up early and made breakfast for them all.

"Thank you, Logan," Cassandra said. She offered him a soft smile. "You know, this wasn't really necessary."

"No, it is. I was getting a little too carried away, and it's a nice reminder that when it comes to the team, if I have questi0ns, I can just ask. We've already been through quite a bit together."

"All's well, lad. More important, though, are you going to finish that egg?"

Logan laughed and gave the last half of his breakfast to the dwarf, who devoured it with gusto.

"Well," Logan said, "you have my word. No more Moodprint on the team."

Funny enough, it was Cassandra who laughed at his promise. "Logan, don't take it that far. It might still be useful in scenarios where we need to send you signals in the city. We'll figure out how to make it work. Besides, I don't think you are aware just yet of what really awaits us in Caerwyn."

Logan raised a brow. "And what's that?"

She leaned in. "Politics."