Encounter

Jason leaned back in his chair exhausted.

"they better be full," he said as he sunk deeper in the wooden chair in a muffled tired voice as he watched everyone through the window of the guild house.

The sun was still up though it was starting to slowly sink in a glow of red, and everyone was holding a large plate of food that included everything from grilled fish to a weird salad that Jason was half intimidated to make by Natalie.

Jeffery and the wolves were chasing after the silver wing guild members playfully while the kids all ran with large smiles on their faces. Jack and his friends were hanging out with Natalie having what seemed to be a mature conversation.

A calm voice said to Jason as he leaned deeper into his seat.

"Good work, master"

Jason didn't even have to look at who was behind him. Jason gave a small laugh and responded

"you too Perseus"

while looking at the entire guild house, and the group of silver wing guild members running around.

Perseus grinned and placed a plate full of grilled fish, steak, and a bowl of salad on the table next to Jason.

he said in a soft voice

"I wouldn't have brought the bowl of salad, but Natalie gave me this glare that sent a chill down my spine."

Jason nodded sympathizing and understanding the feeling, Perseus grabbed another wooden chair and sat down with Jason. Together, the two "brothers" looked out of the window and watched the rest of the people having fun.

Perseus smiled as he saw some of the silver wing guild members raising their arms up like they were holding a fishing rod and casting it into the sea while they talked happily to the newest member of their group Adaran. Adaran sat in wonder as he was relayed the glorious adventures of fishing.

Jason picked up a cut piece of steak with his fork and placed it in his mouth. He said in a muffled voice

"so, what are you planning now?"

Perseus grabbed an entire skewer of grilled fish and took a huge mouthful.

"if have these quest things, that I'm planning to pursue, one of them has something to do with a blacksmith. I also want to hopefully get Jack up the ripper gang rankings. The silver wing guild will start recruiting players in a few days after Natalie and Adaran are settled in and she is able to take that load off my shoulders."

Perseus leaned back trying to think of anything else that he missed. It hit him like a bolt of light and he pointed his skewer at Jason.

"ohhh that's right!, there is an abandoned mine that I and Jack found where we found the kids and some bandits. I got the map to it, but I haven't had the time to explore it yet I'm 90% sure that it has something valuable"

Jason grinned and stabbed his fork into another piece of meat.

"Alright, let's head there tomorrow, you think you can handle it?"

Perseus answered curtly while he stood up and took the empty plates

"I'm stuck at level 49 and I'm looking for a strong monster, of course, I am"

Jason gave a small laugh as Perseus walked out annoyed at Jason's teasing. He pushed himself out of the wooden chair and slowly walked down the corridor until he reached the stairs.

The stairs had a wooden railing on one side as it sloped to the bottom floor connected to the wall.

Boops instantly spoke up

'Jason I know what you are thinking and I'm here to tell you that... you know what. Do your thing'

And so Jason instantly gave a small jump and slid down the railing and landed grinning in a childlike manner.

He walked over to the doors of the plain guild house and opened the door.

A wave of freshly grilled food and the cool breeze assaulted him as he opened them. The sun starting on its path behind the mountains but wasn't there yet. The sky was still blue though there were wisps that shone in a red color. The white clouds drifted in the sky though they seemed a bit darkened. And the trees that surrounded the entire land of the guild house which the sun shone over had a dark shadow cast over them.

Jason looked at them and had a sudden feeling that something was in that forest. Something dark, sinister, yet calm and pristine.

This forest, that the guild house was almost enveloped in, the one that was next to the city of Herdita and was only a few miles away from the rose knight training center still seemed to hold some secrets.

Jeffery bounded over to him with a few wolves right behind him, happily greeting their master after catching his scent. Jason pet them while he stared deeper into the forest. He suddenly remembered Perseus having talked about bandits in the forest but this near to the city of Herdita? shouldn't they have been eradicated already?

Jason had so many questions, and it seems nobody was going to be able to answer them except himself.

Jason gripped the sword at his waist and carefully checked his amour. He was ready, he thought to himself. He armed with his sword and gear, and he had the skills of the rose knight swordsmanship along with others.

Jason suddenly heard Perseus yell out something as he was gazing cautiously into the forest.

"Alright kids," he said in an excited voice "who's ready for some afternoon fishing!"

All of them simultaneously rose their hands and cheered while Perseus grinned and lead them to the guild wagon.

Perseus jumped to the front of the wagon and looked around. He avoided Natalie in fear that she might shut the operation down. He left the rest of the guild members in the care of her and the wolves. He made eye contact with Jason and gave a small wave.

"you want to tag along?" he shouted

Jason looked at the wagon full of excited kids and back at the forest.

"yeah you know what," he said to himself "let's go, this can be a little break before I get into stuff I guess"

and saying that Jason walked over and stretched out his hand while Perseus helped pull him up to the front passenger seat.

He chuckled and said to Jason

"a break? what do you think this is? a calm before a storm or something? this is an important source of income, every one of the fish that's caught, if it's not eaten can be sold for some good moolah."

Jason sighed and shook his head. "let's go and make some money I guess"

and after hearing that Perseus gave a curt laugh and checked on the 10 guild members in the wagon and set off.

A loud shout came from the guild house as they were about to slowly drive down the path.

Jack ran down with his friends right behind him. Jack was desperately waving and chasing after them yelling out

"master! please let us join you!"

Perseus looked at the group of kids behind Jack all looking at him hopefully. The tall tales of the guild members had also reached them, and they too wanted to try out this new "fishing" thing that they were all talking about.

A money-grubbers' grin passed Perseus's face as he waved them over.

Jack and his friends all smiled and hurried over and jumped onto the wagon where the rest of the guild members welcomed them.

And for real this time, the guild wagon set off into the path that lead into the forest and then connected with the main road. The branches seemed to enclose on them and the sun slowly set behind them casting rays of light as they went further and deeper in.

Jason turned around and gave a last look at the guild house, the place where he would probably be staying at for a while. The huge building in the middle and the open grass fields surrounding it. The kids and wolves still running around chasing each other and Natalie walking around like an undefeatable demon that would force kids to eat their nutritious meals. Before long, both the wolves and the kids were running away from her, with actual fear this time.

Jason gave one last look at the guild house and turned back to look at the path in front of them. "To the city of Herdita," he said to himself with a grin. "Let's try not to die on this trip," he said to himself in a joking manner.

Boops popped and asked concerned

"was that a flag?"

Jason widened his eyes as he realized what he had just done. He looked at Perseus who was still happily driving, as the realization of what could happen hit him. Sweat started to drip down his face and he closed his eyes.

frick.