New Quest + QuestWright Chapters 38+39

Howdy everyone,

Sorry for the delay; we had to iron out a few things plotwise. Additionally, a sad update: there will be no bonus chapter this week. I'll try to slip them in when I can, and I'm working on a plan to be able to do that more often than I did for Symphony, but I couldn't push another out. I worry about the quality dropping when I'm forced to produce quantity from a tired brain, plus, I'm pretty sure I got Covid from my first week back at school.

The Question I posted a few days ago showed clear results: You guys are fine with the weird formatting Patreon has in place. Heard ya loud and clear, and no worries.

On the bright side, we've got a new Reader Quest and two big smacker chapters. This arc is focused on Cass trying to "fix" Liora, and the trials that come with it.

As an update specifically for my Patrons, QuestWright book 1 will likely be completed at about Chapter 60. Also, if you want to sign up here, you can get a free copy of Symphony book 1! I didn't realize things had gone active, or I'd have thrown this at you guys a lot sooner: https://booksirens.com/bundle/humor-fantasy-arcs-you-ll-love-august-2025-batch/QM22CKA

There's about 99 copies up for grabs, and the main thing they ask of you once you start reading is to leave a review.

Now, here's my completion of the previous quest: I know, I gave advice. I can't help it. I'm truly a teacher at heart.

New Quest!

Quest ID: JDM-0001-C-EA

[Tier 1 Construction Quest]

You are hereby assigned to improve a single corner of the world.

Choose one neglected physical space in your home or immediate surroundings — a shelf, a patch of dirt, a creaky hinge, or a drawer that hasn't seen light in a decade. Improve it. Fix it, clean it, or organize it with care.

Completion Condition: Tangible transformation. You must be able to see the change.

Reward for completion: 5 XP + Modifiers

J.D. Mullenary Sr.

The Original QuestWright

Note: Questor can include modifiers if they went above and beyond. Analysis of said modifier for increased experience will fall to QuestWright callsign JDM

Chapter 38: (D1) The Depot

Cass walked into the center of the first floor and was unsurprised to find Moore calmly standing behind the long desk. However, what was slowly becoming unsurprising was how meek Kara acted around him. She’d entered with a yell, but now stood silently, a forced smile on her face as Brendan and Chancey chittered nearby.

Cass walked over and placed the drafted Quests in front of the man, “All done, those on the right are Tier 2.”

“Ah, excellent,” Moore said, picking up each and reading them to himself. A moment later, he nodded, “These will do, but I would like you to practice being more official in your drafts. I noted several small errors that could distract a new Questor. Please modify these two to include directions, and this one to remove a touch of Old English.”

Cass made the changes, then nodded, “I’ll try to keep those off your desk in the future.”

“Very good,” He lifted up the Tier 1 Quests and handed them back to Cass. “You’re the QuestWright in charge of the first floor. The honor of placing them on the board is now yours.”

With a small bit of ceremony to the action, Cass took the small stack of vellums and held them lightly. Stepping over, he was aware of the three others standing and watching him as, one by one, he pinned them up. Stepping back, he nodded, then turned around.

Kara smiled at him, “So, QuestWright. The Guild Master has given us a few hours each day to pilot the Pathfinder project, and I’ve set aside time for designing our competency tests. Where should we begin?”

“At the beginning,” Cass replied, feeling a sense of excitement bubbling up in his chest.

The beginning, as it turned out, was the area Adya had shown him earlier that separated the downtown area from the Depot. Liora was a broken honeycomb. Random openings existed in various locations as the city had grown haphazardly, rather than with a planned approach. It was likely that, as it was built on top of the ruins of San Antonio, buildings and districts had grown in spurts. 

If a person took ten steps outside of what was considered “downtown”, they’d find themselves in a completely different area.

So it was with a slight feeling of righteous justice in his heart that Cass brought his three Pathfinder co-conspirators to their first project. It was just at the start of the northern quadrant, where a few children could be seen kicking a ball across the street. The smell of the area was a mixture of old sweat and something worse, while the people living there didn’t look much better.

“This is filthy,” Kara said with a sigh.

“And yet, it’s right outside of downtown,” Brendan commented, his buoyancy for once seeming deflated.

Cass took a few steps toward several small, basic material shops. Shops, however, were a heavy word for the leaning stalls covered with torn tarps. “Liora’s a large city. And naturally, the Council has focused its resources on the areas that they feel need it the most.”

“That means other areas get forgotten.” Kara pointed out.

“Exactly,” Cass said without a smile, “But that’s where we come in, and hopefully others will join us down the line.” He pointed at a small section of the wall where a brick had fallen out. “People, and places, guys, people and places. These areas have been forgotten; we’re here to show them the Guild cares.”

Brendan asked, “How’s this going to work?”

Cass scratched his head as he looked around, “Well, I’ll be assigning a few Quests, proactively, and you two, my Clerkly friends, will hand out the Guild pamphlets to anyone who wants to take them. Guild Master Hollis has assured me he’d fund our project here, and just like that, this,” He spread his hands out to encompass the area, “will be shiny like new.”

Chancey raised her hand, “We’re just giving out pamphlets?”

Noting the subservient tone in her voice, Cass said, “You don’t have to do that.” He even went so far as to step over and gently pull her hand down. “I’m not your supervisor. We’re teammates in this. You and Brendan are here to hand out the pamphlets.” His eyes caught a few wary looks from the people in the area, so he added an addendum. “And to be charming.”

“Charming,” Kara asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course,” Cass said with a smile he didn’t feel.

This was the first step of a much larger plan. He couldn’t stumble now. But, even with Adya’s description of things, he hadn’t known the area was this bad. Rats were scurrying across the ground even as they were ignored. 

Clearing his throat, he continued, “This isn’t the main thoroughfare to Downtown, it’s just a side street, but that doesn’t make it any less important. The people who live and work here could use a little help. That’s all we’re doing.” 

Hearing Kara cough, he got to the point, “And if some of them decide they’d like some extra experience, then, all the better.”

“Okay!” Brendan said, brightening up, “I love to help people.”

“Me too,” Chancey said with a dimpled smile.

“Great!” He pointed at the kids kicking the ball around. “Now, why don’t you go tell them all about the wonders of the Guild, while Kara and I talk to their parents. Sound good?”

“Sounds great!” Brendan said with a smile as he and Chancey hopped over with enthusiasm. Cass and Kara, meanwhile, had a much tougher job to do.

Approaching three men standing behind their shops, Cass tried to infuse some friendliness into his voice without overdoing it. “Hello, my name’s Cass, and this is K-”

“Not interested,” A man in a round turban interrupted him. “Go on back to your Guild.”

Not a great start, Cass thought to himself. He was preparing to try again in a more straightforward manner when Kara spoke up with a glare. 

“Screw you, dirter.”

“Hey! You can’t talk to us that way!” One of the other men behind their stalls yelled at her. “You’re from the Guild, thought you guys were all supposed to-”

Kara threw a sharp finger his way, her arm a blur, “I may be in the Guild now, but I’m from the Depot. You bunch of dirters have been sitting here, wallowing in your petty sales, and you think you can tell us to leave? Better plant yourselves in the ground and hide because we’ve got a license from the Liora City Council to fix up your little pigsty here.” 

“Kara,” Cass whispered to her, “Why are you antagonizing them? We need their help to get things off the ground. Plus, we never got a license, just permission from the Guild Master.”

“License, schmicense. Cass, these are my people,” She said with a quiet grin, “Calling them a dirter is like saying they wouldn’t know a broom if it brushed against their backside. Trust me, that’s why Hollis assigned me to you.” She turned back around, “As I was saying, you filthy miscreants, we’re going to do what we want, and if you don’t like it, you can go to hell.”

The first man spluttered, “Dirter? Miscreant? What in tha hell are ya thinkin gurl” He said, an accent appearing for the first time.

“I’m thinking you’re all a bunch of low-levels without the gumption to do anything about your lot in life.” She brushed an imaginary bit of dirt from her shoulder, “This place is so disgusting that I feel like I’ll catch a disease just from breathing the air. And your kids,” She pointed at the children laughing as Brendan tried and failed to kick the ball. “How can they even stand being here? Hell, more than that, how can you allow them to be here? It’s disgusting!”

The men followed her eyes, and there was a noticeable softening to them as their eyes moved from the piles of dirt and refuse to the children. Cass knew this was his chance, so he stepped up, “I wanna start out by saying I’m not from the Depot. I was born and raised on the Grounds, and my family kept me pretty close for reasons that always seemed to change. But, I’m here to help.” That shifted their eyes from softening back to the hardness he’d originally seen. 

Don’t talk about helping, got it.

“Help your kids, that is.” He said, picking up where he left off but following Kara’s angle. “I’m a QuestWright, and I work in the Liora Guildhall Quest Registry. My job is to assign Quests for the good of Liora, and I’ve decided to start here, with this area.”

“What, we tha most shitty place in Liora?” A third man yelled from the back, his hands planted on his hips.

“Just the closest, you filthy ass!” Kara yelled at him, causing his mouth to drop open.

Cass smiled internally but kept his face blank, “She’s right, about being the closest, that is, and what we plan on doing here is important. We’re going to fix up the walls, clean the area, remove the vermin, and provide you with a nice place to work. The only thing we ask of you is not to actively attempt to stop or delay us. How does that sound?”

“Ya think you’re better than us?” The first man asked, taking a step away from his table.

Cass held up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. “No, but I think we’re all Liorans, and we should help one another out when we can.”

The man spat to the side and walked away as Cass looked at Kara, “So?”

“They didn’t try attacking us,” Kara said with a shrug, “That’s gotta be positive. People in the Depot don’t like it when others try to encroach on their trades. Every time a new shop opens, there’s a lot of hazing and bad looks. Especially in these areas where the rent is low for a reason.”

“Alright, well,” Cass rubbed the back of his head, “Let's get started then.” Seeing a laughing Chancey playing with a few of the kids, Cass called over Brendan, who was holding the small of his back after missing the ball and falling to the ground.

“Can you go get us some brooms, a few bins for trash, and let Mr. Moore know that we’re beginning? And-”

“Okay!” Brendan said with a smile as he turned and sprinted toward the Registry.

“I was also going to ask him to grab a few more things…” Cass said to Kara quietly.

“Clerks!” She slapped her forehead. “Why don’t you make a few Quests, and we’ll get started?”

“Right,” Cass said with a nod, firming up his resolve. He looked around and analyzed the situation. The walls on both sides had several bricks either missing, crumbling, or holding several cracks. In fact, he even spotted several rectangular objects underneath certain people’s stalls, holding them up higher to the sky instead of where they should be.

Shaking his head, he removed a notepad and pencil, then counted the bricks that would need replacing. He could’ve gone with a rough estimate, but he knew that in order to make this as cheap and therefore viable as possible, he should always try to keep costs down.

Following that, he estimated it would take several people's time to clear the street of garbage, sweep the area, and then wash it. Varmint hunting was tricky, but it wasn’t something a Combat Calling would need to be assigned. That meant he could assign a hunt Quest to a person and test out if it would unlock a special title.

It wasn’t likely, as killing bugs and rodents was just standard par for living, but if he made a Quest out of it, that might be enough to tip the scales. Based on the several dozen he’d seen, and not counting repeats, it would take at least two people to find and root them out. 

Then there were the stalls. That was going to be the tricky part. There were options for upgrading them, but he’d need someone to go over the basics with him in order to understand how to frame the Quest.

Writing everything down, he approached the second man, who’d seemed insulted by Kara’s name-calling. “Excuse me, sir. But could I ask your name?’

“James,” He said with a sniff. “What do you want?”

Pointing at the stall with his pencil, he asked, “How would you like a new stall? Or even a storefront.” He’d noted there was plenty of space between the wall and the man’s shop. “We could build it in, install it, and leave you alone, just like I promised.”

“What’s the cost?” He said, his expression very obviously dubious.

“Help us clean up the area here,” Cass said, pointing at the worst spots with his pencil, “and we’ll call it even. I’ll even throw in a Quest to get you some bonus experience.”

“Wait, bonus experience?” James asked, and that hit the third man back as well, “You can do that?”

“He’s a QuestWright, you numbskull!” Kara yelled as she moved a few bricks into a pile, “His whole job is assigning Quests for experience!”

Cass tried laughing softly to take the sting out of it, “She’s right, my whole Calling is built around Quests. So, how about it?”

The man scratched his chin, “Can I get a few of my brother’s kids over here? They’re young and new to their Callings, I bet they could use the experience too.”

“Absolutely,” Cass said with a smile, “The more the merrier.”

After he left, the third man did too, until it was just Kara, Chancey, Cass, and the kids in the street. “Did they leave their kids behind? That would never happen on the Grounds.”

“Pschh,” Kara said, lugging several bricks over, “That’s par for the course here. Learning from your mistakes is like a Calling all on its own in the Depot. We don’t get coddled like you did.”

Cass didn’t feel any rush of anger from her tone. He knew, Kara being Kara, she was only trying to explain the area to him. Instead of being upset, he mentally noted the different upbringings, then put his things down and helped Kara as Chancey continued to entertain the children, even going so far as to turn the Guild pamphlets into hats they could wear.

About fifteen minutes later, Brendan arrived with the requested items, then was promptly sent out again for more supplies. Cass let Kara do the honors of informing him, then immediately regretted it as she showed just how much she didn’t like Clerks. Luckily, Brendan didn’t seem to understand sarcasm.

“We love watching you run back and forth.”

The sun was high in the sky before the two men came back, several late-age teenagers in tow. James introduced Cass to each one as Kara grabbed some pamphlets and handed them out. All the new arrivals seemed excited by the possibilities, and the QuestWright and Guild Trainer spent some time explaining Pathfinder to them.

Asking for some space, Cass stepped away. The QuestWright looked out on all of the locations and forthcoming tasks with an intense focus. In most Quests, he created a singular assignment, granted it to the Questor, and off they went. But this wasn’t something small. It was several Quests that could build upon one another. 

So why couldn’t he design them that way? 

And that’s just what he did: creating a dozen new Quests tied into the area. Unlike general Quests, each and every new Quest had very specific instructions, connecting them to each other in a sequence of events that would make everything flow smoothly as one Quest’s description bled into another. After he handed out the tenth and watched the excited teenager glow gold, a notification sprang up.

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

Bonus experience granted for inducing a Quest Web:

320 Experience

Initiate QuestWright Achievement progress:

6/12

That one stumped him, “What the hell is a Quest Web, and why do these things keep happening?”

Chapter 39: (D1-4) Pathfinder's Beginnings

Cass didn’t get an answer to what a Quest Web was right away. After their time limit ran out, they packed up their supplies, promised to return on the morrow, then headed back to the Registry. The street still looked frumpy and borderline dangerous to inhabit, but he knew they wouldn’t make immediate progress on the first day. 

These things had to be done incrementally, and now that he had an idea of what supplies they needed, he planned on attacking it head-on the next day.

After returning, the two Clerks headed off to their normal duties while Cass and Kara put everything away and took out the garbage. As soon as he dropped the bags off at a spot near the stables, he close to sprinted back to the Registry with a burning question at the forefront of his mind.

“What’s a Quest Web?”

“Oh? Fascinating.” Moore said with a smile, “Gerald always spoke of Quest Chains, but he’d only ever mentioned a Quest Web to me once, though I did pester him for details. If I recall correctly, it occurred during an Incursion defense. Have you, by chance, been creating defensive positions without telling me?” 

When Cass responded with a silent look, Moore snorted, “Of course. A Quest Web is when several Quests interlock with one another.”

“Okay,” Cass said, understanding that was exactly what had happened with the ones he’d made in the Depot. Every Quest had included some small part of the others. They were related to one another, like Quest cousins. But that still didn’t fully answer his question. 

“Why is it special? I got an Achievement for it.”

Moore nodded as if that was to be expected. “Yes, I’d think you would. A Quest Chain increases an individual's Quest experience rate as new circumstances force it to be extended, as occurred with Master Chask. A Quest Web, however, is created when several interlocking Quests are completed with a larger, overarching goal that requires them to be done in sequence.”

A young woman in Guild robes approached, handing him a message and getting a nod in return. He didn’t stop speaking as he read, “As each Quest completes, it will increase the experience value of the others within the web, creating a scaling rate of experience for all of those involved without reducing the baseline of one another…” While Cass processed that, the Maestro said straight out, “It increases all of the experience for everyone at once, as long as the Quests are completed. If enough Quests don’t get completed, the web fractures, and you’re out of luck.”

Cass gave a blank, “Oh,” as he processed all of that.

“Now, rather than standing there and stressing about the completion of your first web, why don’t we focus on the Registry. As the head of the first floor, you now have the option to change the room to accommodate your preferences.”

Cass spent a short amount of time looking around the area, as the web stuck to the forefront of his mind. All in all, it was already set up close to how he would like it. The only changes he made were to move a couch closer to the board and request that a few stools be placed near the Registry desk. When asked why, he responded that it would be nice to let people sit while they waited in line. What he didn’t say was that he expected those lines to develop and grow due to Pathfinder.

After a quick lunch by himself, a notebook in front of him, he headed back to the Registry. Stepping into the Annex, he sat down and looked at the construction books he’d retrieved from his room on the way over. Half of his workday was gone in the creation of Quests and Pathfinder, but he still had more than half of his daily quota available. That left him an opening.

After reading and taking notes on the first book he still hadn’t quite finished reading, Cass took a quick break, and created ten new Common Solutions Quests. Writing a short letter to Rina explaining who would get which, he asked Moore to arrange for someone to deliver them. The Maestro took it without blinking, then told him to create a Delivery Quest with an eyebrow raised. Abashed, Cass knocked it out and received a nod, along with a promise that it would be done.

The rest of his day was spent going over the map he’d seen and plotting out what to do on the morrow. But just as it was quitting time, a visitor came calling.

“So,” A familiar snarky voice said as she came around the corner of the Annex, “This is where you spend all your time making Quests?”

“Orla?” Cass said in surprise, standing up and inadvertently closing the System Map, “What’re you doing here?”

She was dressed up in what he’d come to recognize as Trader gear. A green silk robe cut to be slightly form-fitting, with jeweled rings covering her fingers. Hair done up in a tight and circular bun, he found a matching jade pin holding it together. What he didn’t understand was why the side slits showed the material under the dress, but then again, he’d never had a mind for fashion.

Before he asked why she was dressed that way, a memory came forward of a time Orla had once told him that clothing was a declaration of a merchant’s success. If you wear shitty clothes, you get shitty customers. But that didn’t explain what she was doing in the Registry.

“I was just dropping by to see if you might need any basic supplies for the project you talked to Adya about this morning.”

“Oh…” Cass said, scratching the back of his neck, “Well, I guess we do, but I don’t know how it gets decided on where they come from.”

Stepping closer and with a pointed look at his chair, she snorted, “I’m also here to drop off your share of the profits.” Four coins touched the desk. “It’s not much, but it’s honest work.” She said with a sigh.

“I get it,” Cass replied, “you don’t have to continue being overly dramatic.”

“Oh! It’s not dramatic! We’re scraping by after I took out a few loans to cover basic supplies for our craftsmen.”

“Orla,” Cass said deadpan, “It’s been a single day. Why the hell are you taking out loans already?”

She ignored the question, “Scraping by while you sit here in your…fancy chair.” She spun the coins around on the desk. “Just scraping by.”

Cass gave a long-suffering sigh, “Come with me, please.”

She smiled at him as they walked together to meet Mr. Moore. The man was just stepping out from behind the desk when they arrived.

“Something I can help you with, Cassio? Ms. Marrowind?”

“How do supplies get chosen for the Guild?” Cass asked straightforwardly, knowing the Maestro liked to get to the point in his conversations.

Orla leaned towards him and spoke in a quiet voice, “Cass, I already know this. I just need permission from a high-ranking Guild official to-”

Like an engine, Moore started up with a magnanimous expression, “It goes to the Provisioner’s Exchange, who compares it to what is currently available in Guild storage. After a thorough search and on the conclusion that supplies are necessary, a bidding auction will begin.” He paused after closing the gated opening to the desk. “Why do you ask?”

Orla spoke in her most respectful tone,  “And can just anyone enter the Exchange and join the bidding?” She paused with a finger held up, “As in, would I be granted permission to join the bids through my new Enterprise?”

“Yes, Ms. Marrowind, of course you can. As long as the Enterprise is Lioran and local, I don’t see that as being a problem.” He looked at Orla’s bouncing feet before commenting, “The Exchange doesn’t close for another thirty minutes, if you move quickly-”

“That’s what I needed! Okay! Thanks, old man, bye. Cass, you suck for not coming to me about this!” In a dead sprint, the merchant flew down and across the Registry, her path unerring in its direction to the Provisioner’s Exchange. Cass suddenly understood the slits in her dress, as they opened up, allowing her legs to extend while she pumped them for all they were worth.

“Marrowinds,” Moore said with a shake of his head. “Why are you laughing, Cassio?”

Over the next few days, Cass focused a lot of his attention on Pathfinder. Orla, Pellin, and Adya met him for breakfast each day, and Adya’s Quests continued to provide a detailed understanding of what was wrong with the Depot. Orla didn’t win the bidding for their first foray into fixing Liora, but she assured him she would on the second, as even the Guild storage had a severe lack of basic materials for construction. 

It was an ongoing need in a city that seemed to be constantly growing.

And on the note of growing, the locals warmed up to Pathfinder the more they interacted. Seeing that Cass and crew weren’t there to put them all out of business, they stepped up, with more people new to their Callings arriving each day. What had begun as only a few wary people was slowly turning into something much bigger. He found people smiling at each other, old friends and new acquaintances working together to solve minor problems that had evolved into greater predicaments. 

When Cass found no extra experience coming in as the Quests were completed, he wasn’t shocked to learn later that two had failed. It was as he’d warned Guild Master Hollis when he’d agreed to the pilot: two Questors hadn’t taken them seriously. However, even though he lost two System Reputation points, he gained three in a new set and more than made up for the loss with those being completed.

Various members of Liora view you more favorably.

Your System Reputation has increased by 62

Your Liora (City) reputation has increased by 3.

Your reputation with the draft-horse, Bella, has increased by 1

After a few brief conversations, Cass discovered that speaking to others about Reputation was a non-starter. In talking, quietly, with first Kara and then Adya later, Cass learned quite a bit that had been left out of his System Mechanics class. Every Calling shared one thing in common with the others.

Experience.

Each Calling, from Clerk to Trainer to Scout and QuestWright, gained experience and levels. But that was the only true commonality between them. After that, a secondary attribute or subsystem kicked in. For Cass, it was Reputation. For Guild Trainers like Kara, it was Insight — a pseudo-psychological stand-in that allowed them to look at and understand the people around them. 

Adya spoke of Observation and how it leveled with extraordinary normality. Like staring at people and places, noticing every detail about them, was something anyone could do. If Cass had something like that, it would’ve allowed his Quest Webs to complete without error. Or, at least he thought so. 

It also made him consider unlocking Inspection much sooner than initially planned. But he held back. His plan to supercharge Waypoint before unlocking it felt smart…wise even. Like hiding his Unique path, it was something he sensed about the Major node. The same way he’d sensed that certain achievements were in reach when he was first starting out.

Like the System was whispering to him…

Shaking his head at the thought, he’d laughed to himself. If he activated Waypoint now, it would be an added effect to any Quest he handed out, surely. But it wouldn’t come with all the bells and whistles, with every possible bonus all at once. Waiting for a day or two wouldn’t kill him. Maybe he was being overly cautious, but it was better than making a major mistake down the road. Plus, the more he unlocked, the greater the chance that he’d gain extra System Reputation with every successfully completed Quest.

It did make him wonder about Reputation and how it was gained. System Reputation came with Quests, Achievements, and slaying monsters. But there was likely something more to it than that. An extra oomph he wasn’t considering. As for reputation with any non-system entities, like goofball horses, enterprises, and the city itself…he didn’t know much about that. Or what effect it would have when he reached certain thresholds.

After all, if he could unlock new Quests by raising System Reputation, and he could understand a horse by reaching a specific threshold with one, then what would happen when he got to a threshold with the city?

At the end of the second day, Cass was surprised to find he’d leveled. Sitting at over five hundred unspent experience, he burned through a lot of it, unlocking further minor nodes in an attempt to empower the major waiting for him to attack. Waypoint, once a lonely island in a sea of unfilled nodes, was now beset on all sides by Cass’s selections. It would only be a matter of a few days before he finally unlocked it.

The Minor nodes all provided passive effects. One would grant a small amount of directionality to any Questor on a task. Another provided the assigned Questor a tiny experience bump based on how carefully they managed materials, even providing a note that it only worked on certain Quest types. Overall, although the effects were small, they combined to produce positive effects that cascaded upon one another. As he continued to assign Quests for the Registry, Common Solutions, and now Pathfinder, his experience rate ballooned greatly. Looking at it the following morning, he was shocked to find he was already progressing toward the seventh level.

As for Quest Types, he still held off. Ignoring Moore and his own advice from unlocking all of the Common types, Cass needed to get a stronger foundation in the ones he already had. That’s why on the second evening, he did as Moore asked, creating dozens of new templates for Training, and dozens more the night after. Even after he struck one hundred, he kept going, as there were so many options with outlining Training Quests that it would all pay for itself by the time he was finished. Time being the important word there.

The third day came and went, a blur of Quest handouts and small bits of camaraderie throughout. It was hard to see, but as the stalls slowly became shops, a sense of pride that was formerly lacking began to leak into the merchants who’d once told him to leave. Instead of wary glances, somewhat shiny teeth greeted him whenever Cass approached the people on the side street he’d learned was called Jerry Road. 

On the fourth day, he got to see the first Quest Web finish, as he was far more particular in who he picked out. Three of the people whom he’d granted vellums to, two boys and a girl, had not completed Quests for him multiple times. Because of that, they were on a mental no-acceptance list. When they’d asked why, with arms folded and a small crowd around them, Cass had answered simply and with no malicious intent.

“Quests are a rare resource. I’ve been burning through a lot of materials, handing these out to the neighbourhood. If you won’t respect the Quest and complete it when it’s due, then you don’t deserve to receive any in the future.”

They, of course, had reasons for why they’d failed to complete their assigned Quests, but Cass stood firm on the subject. As the complaints rose, their elders stepped in and put them straight with some ungentle admonishments. Cass wouldn’t have smacked the back of the youngest man’s head for talking out of turn, but then again, he wasn’t from the Depot. The culture of the area, as he’d slowly come to understand, was quite different from how he’d been raised. It forced him into great introspection at times since he only lived about an hour’s walk from the location. How people could live in the same city but lead such different lives was only starting to seep into his mental collective. 

All told, after four days working in the area, their work was nearing completion as everything began to look friendly and organized. It also started up a nebulous sensation in his chest as he returned to his room that night. It felt like hope and satisfaction. 

That night, as he lay down for the evening, he received a notification.

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

A Quest Web you’ve created has been satisfactorily completed in Liora. All Quests involved gain a +100% xp modifier, and all Reputation gains for attached Quests are doubled.

Cass smiled to himself as he snuggled his pillow. Waypoint was almost within reach, then it was time for a new path.

Side-side note: My Kickstarter DCC gear just arrived. Did not know the box was going to talk when I opened it.