Seeds of Discordia

Liam woke the next morning to the sounds of Uncle Naro calling for them to get up. At first, Liam wasn’t sure what was going on. Uncle Naro’s voice didn’t sound distressed, but it also didn’t sound too happy. After finally getting up and out of bed, Liam made his way out of the tent to see the others doing the same. Those who hadn’t camped out with them before during these couple of days decided to last night to make it easier to eat breakfast and get ready for departure.

After everyone fully came out from their tents, still in their pajamas, they looked at Uncle Naro who was sitting next to a fire that he had recently started. With a yawn, Liam asked, “What’s up? Is everything alright?”

Uncle Naro lifted his gaze from the fire pit and towards them. “Yes, sorry. I had just received news from my friend and wanted to inform you of some changes that have come up?”

“Changes?” Mercer asked as he and the others sat down.

Uncle Naro nodded his head. “She and her ship were supposed to arrive here today, and we were to make way after they stocked up on some supplies. However. That plan has changed since they were delayed due to some unanticipated events out at sea.”

“Unanticipated events?” Mercer repeated as he looked at the man. “What kind of unanticipated events could delay a ship of people?”

“The kind that either stops ships from coming to shore due to high traffic or restrict access to port,” Uncle Naro stated.

Everyone looked at him confused. They were not sure what he meant nor what he was talking about. When it came to anything to the sea their knowledge was lacking by a lot.

“Can you explain it better? What do you mean by high traffic or restrict access to port?” Liam asked, trying to gain a sense of understanding.

“There have been rumors going around recently of islands with dungeons either crumbling and deteriorating, essentially destroying anything on the island or transforming into something new entirely,” Uncle Naro started to explain. “Well, I guess transforming into something new entirely isn’t exactly accurate. It’s more like the island regained all the lost resources that it once had before people took them. The animals, plant life, ores…everything just magically reappeared as if they were never taken before.”

“Deteriorating an entire island? Like a poison or a plague was spread?” Ariyana questioned still trying to grasp the situation.

Uncle Naro shook his head. “I haven’t heard much of a toxin or poison that could do that to not just life or object but to a dungeon as well. It also doesn’t sound like something a poison, or the like could do. I don’t have all the information, but I don’t think it’s that.”

“What about the other issues? Materials, plant life and the like suddenly reappearing. Any clues as to what could cause that?” Mercer asked.

Uncle Naro thought about it. He looked like he had some ideas, but after a shake of his head he said, “Not entirely.”

“I’m sorry,” Roman interjected. “I’m still not fully awake and a little lost, but what does all of that have to do with your friend’s ship being delayed?”

To Uncle Naro’s surprise it was Mercer who answered, “If I had to gather a guess. Due to the islands either having no room for docking or not allowing anyone on the island, they couldn’t gather supplies to continue their way here. Making them turn back around to an island or continent that they had previous been to that allowed them to dock before attempting their way in this direction.”

Uncle Naro nodded his head. “A lot of her supplies were nearing their limit and if they tried to push on then they would reach their expirations. Adding in the damages from fighting monsters. They need to repair their ship.”

“Makes sense. So what do we do now?” Artem questioned.

“We make our way to them,” Uncle Naro stated.

Liam wasn’t sure if he was still tired or missed something, but he wasn’t entirely sure how they would do that. So instead of trying to figure it out he just asked, “How do we do that?”

“We take a Teleportation Portal to the next island that has a Dungeon Tower, spend a day there and then take another one to a different island do it again and then finally take one to where she is,” Uncle Naro stated. “That’s what I think we should do. It will give her enough time to fix her ship and plan out all the supplies she needs, and you all can get some work together inside a dungeon and more practice what do you think?”

Liam looked at the others. They were now starting to look fully awake as they looked at each other. Not seeing any issues with the new plan, Liam turned to look back at Uncle Naro and said, “Sounds good to us. We could use a good dungeon run to get back into the swing of things.”

Everyone nodded at Liam’s words as Uncle Naro liked their response. He then stood up and announced, “Alright, then let’s have some breakfast, break camp, and then head for the Teleportation Area.”

Liam stepped forward and through the teleportation portal into a new room. Like the last one, this one didn’t have much to make it stand out. it was a plain room with white marble looking flooring, walls, and ceiling. However, instead of having a window it had a few Yooperlite Stones placed throughout the room.

An elvish man stood at a desk with a human man by his side. They both wore matching uniforms of grey and blue. They both looked at Liam as he stood staring at them. They were about to say something but stopped as everyone else started making their way through. Their gazes were neutral until Uncle Naro stepped through. They widened as they took in the entire group.

“Is that everyone?” the human man asked as he held his clipboard.

“It is,” Uncle Naro replied.

“Right then, manner of business here in Felis?” The human asked.

“Adventure,” Uncle Naro answered. “I am having this group here take on a couple of Dungeons for practice and experience before we leave tomorrow for the next island.”

The elvish man didn’t take his eyes off of Uncle Naro as the Human wrote down his response. “Alright, we just need to take a quick peek at your identifications, and we’ll have you on your way.”

 Everyone pulled their Adventurer Identifications out and handed them over to both the Human and the Elvish man. Once when the Elvish male looked at Uncle Naro’s identification, he went to open his mouth, but stopped as Uncle Naro said, “Are we good?”

The Elvish man noticed the look in his eye which prompted him to not say what he was going to say, but instead nod and reply, “If you wish to head to the Adventurer’s Association then just make a right three blocks down, then a left two down, and a right four after that. It’s not a big one, but you shouldn’t miss it. We do not have a Merchant’s Association nor a Crafter’s Association, but the market place we have here will have anything related to them if needed.”

Uncle Naro nodded his head as he smiled and said, “Thank you for that information. How about inns?”

“There are a few in town. Majority of them are near the Adventurer’s Association. Any near there are worth the price, especially if you’re just here for the day and are leaving tomorrow,” the human answered.

Liam and the others made their way out of the room and through the building after that. The moment they stepped out the hot sun came down on them. The smell of salt in the air and the sound of waves ebbing and flowing gave them the sense that they were closer to the ocean than they were back in the other city they came from.

Traffic of people and creatures pulling wagons filled the street and sidewalks showing the city was full of life. Shouts of sales, chatter of citizens, and annoyed voices filled the air. The buildings were made out of wood and the businesses around them looked to be booming. Out in the distance over the roofs of the town Liam could see trees. He surmised that there was a forested area like the places he’s already been to.

“Mmm, can you feel that breeze?” Ariyana asked as she closed her eyes and took in the soft breeze that flowed over them. They each took it in and felt cooled down from the sun thanks to it.

“Alright, so what are we going to do first? Get a room? Or are we going to make camp like the last place?” Mercer asked as he turned to Uncle Naro.

“Since we’re not going to be here for long grabbing a room should be fine,” Uncle Naro replied. “You’ll want it after all the dungeon runs you will be doing today.”

“All the dungeon runs?” Roman asked with a raised brow.

“Yes,” Uncle Naro said. “After grabbing a room we’ll head down to the Adventurer’s Association and have you get a few quests to complete. Liam, I want you to get some Harvest quests. It will help you understand how to harvest more monsters as you grow the ability.”

Liam nodded his head in response. He agreed he needed to gain more knowledge and the best way to do that was by getting gathering quests. Not wanting to waste any more time, they made their way towards the inns they were told about closest to the Adventurer’s Association.

After securing a room and placing some of their stuff in the rooms they all met in front of the inn. The rooms were limited so they split it in a way where the girls got a room, Uncle Naro, Gimmel, and Roman got a room, and Mercer, Liam and Artem got a room. The boys had to pick straws on which room they were separated into. As much as Liam respected and grew to like Uncle Naro, he didn’t like the fact that the giant man snored like a bear.

They quickly made their way to the Adventurer’s Association, listening to Roman’s grumbles and slightly making fun of him about it. Once they entered the building they understood why the two men from earlier had said it was smaller. The length of the building was smaller, and the building was one story compared to the one in Cashat Port. The sitting and eating area was cut in half and the amount of people working in this location was less as well. Even though the building was smaller, and the staff was smaller, the quest board was still full of quests and there were plenty of people grabbing what they believed would be best for them.  

Uncle Naro led the group to a section of the Quest boards that didn’t have many people and looked over what there was. After looking over each of them he turned to Liam and the others and said, “Go ahead and grab the Aqua Wolf Pelt collecting Quest, the Windy Roc Feather Collection quest, the Tree Logging Gathering quest, the medicinal herbs gathering quest, and the Wave Rider Crab Hunting quest. After you finish those we will see if there is any time for more, but I think this should be a good start.”

Mercer nodded before grabbing each quest Uncle Naro had listed off. They then made their way to the counter to register for the quests. Besides Uncle Naro, the staff graciously admitted them to their requested quests. Apparently the staff were excited these quests were taken and even offered a slightly higher pay upon completion because no one bothered taking these ones any more since they were beginner type quests.

After they left the counter, Uncle Naro explained, “I picked these specifically for two reasons. One was for the fact that they looked like no one had taken them in quite a while. Usually when there are quests that sit around for a certain amount of time the completion reward will rise because they need the supplies from them. For the Hunting one, there is a specific material that drops from it that the Association can use. Well, sell to crafters. The shell.”

“The shell?” Roman asked.

“Yes, the shell has some armor like qualities. The Wave River Crab’s shell can sometimes have Water properties on it if you’re lucky. They are a good source to sell to crafters who are interesting using the material to make certain items, but we’ll talk more about that another time,” Uncle Naro stated. “As for the second reason why I chose these quests for you is because they will serve as good practice to see how your new abilities and skills work as well as to help you relearn your teamwork.”

The group looked at him and took in what he was saying. While a good challenge was always great for them and was up their alley, taking on quests that were easier than what they were used to would help them connect, learn, and readjust their teamwork. During their fight against the Toxos as well as the undead creatures they controlled, while they were able to fight well together like in the past, Liam did feel like they weren’t in sync.

Especially him who had practiced fighting by himself for a bit. He also needed to test out what Uncle Naro had been teaching him these past couple days with the Cleaver, Hammer, and Axe. He wasn’t completely comfortable using them in a fight, but if he didn’t get practice in switching between each Tool Weapon, then he would never get better proficiency using them.

“Also, I would like to give some advice for your future,” Uncle Naro started back up again, bringing their attention back to him. “If there is anything I think you should always do whenever you go to new Adventurer’s Association; Even if you’ve become powerful, I believe you should always look for quests no one picks up anymore. While you would be overqualified to do them, it would not only help the Association out, but you could use them as solo practice to try new things out.”

Liam and the others took in his advice. What he said made sense. Practice was always great and while fighting harder opponents could yield great results, there was always a chance you could make a mistake and either get hurt or worse…die. Taking on lower quests that no one took anymore could reduce the risks and help you understand flaws or mistakes in your attempts. Liam nodded in agreement with the idea. He would take that to heart and do as he advised.

“Before we head out I have one last thing to add,” Uncle Naro started back up before looking at Liam. “When taking on the Wave Rider Crab, I want no one to engage with it except for Liam.”