Saturday - June 20th - A Good Morning for Questing

I stood in front of the quest board with Kane at the adventurers Guild Hall. Behind us stood Lord Glade. His eyes were glassy and vacant as he sipped coffee out of a thermos.

The quest board Kane and I were looking at was how adventurers made their living. People would post their odd jobs and quests on the board and then the adventurers would accept it. When the job or quest was completed the adventures would then gain the posted rewards.

This quest board was very busy. The board was littered with advertisements for requests. Some were written on scraps of paper, while others were full sheets filled with bright colors and fancy fonts.

Most of these fancier flyers for quests were off limits to me since I wasn't a high enough level to accept them. These harder quests were on the left side of the board, while the easier were on the right. Kane and I were looking at the latter.

Two quests in particular had caught my eye. One simply read, 'Please find my lost Kitty! Her name is Sandy. Minimum adventurer level: 5.'

The other was a rare, full length advertisement for a low-level ingredient hunt. I was very interested in this one because most of the ingredients were drops from monsters that roamed the countryside in packs. Killing mobs of monsters caused exp bonuses.

Lord Glade choked on his coffee behind me. "What are we doing here?" he asked groggily.

Kane and I turned to stare at him. We had already explained to him the plan for this weekend, twice. It seemed like Lord Glade was truly useless in the mornings.

"I told you, we are going on a quest this weekend." I replied flatly as Lord Glade took another drink of his coffee.

Turning towards Kane, I pointed out the ingredient request, "I like this one," I said , "even if they are weak monsters we should still get a lot of experience points from killing mobs and there isn't a time limit so we don't have to finish it this weekend."

A pfft exploded from behind me. I turned again to see Lord Glade coughing violently with coffee dribbling down his chin. There were corresponding splashes on his shirt, pants, and the floor in front of him.

Quickly recovering, he wiped his chin and said, "Absolutely not! We are going to the training grounds and then back to the Palace. There will be no questing!"

I sniffed, "You are free to do that, Lord Glade, but Kane and I are going on a quest this weekend."

"You- you are a female!" Lord Glade spluttered. "Females can't do quests."

"Last time I checked, combat did not require specific sex organs. Unless I'm mistaken about the meaning of 'crossing swords'?" I replied.

Lord Glade flushed, "That is- when we go back to the Palace-"

"No thank you," I said cutting him off. "I have no interest in your definition of 'crossing swords' and no desire for you to show me why it requires me to be a male to do it." I turned back to the board and pulled down the ingredient quest flyer. "Ready?" I asked Kane. He smiled at me and nodded. My heart skipped a beat in my chest.

Kane was incredibly handsome when he smiled. He'd been handsome when he was young, but he was more so now. His features had become sharper. His body had filled out more. He seemed confident and sure of himself.

We started for the counter to register for the quest with the receptionist, but Lord Glade yanked the flier from my hand.

He stared at it, red-faced. Whether his face was red from anger or embarrassment, I really did not know. I also didn't really care; I just wanted that flier back.

"A monster hunting quest? Of all of the quests you had to pick up monster hunting quest?" he demanded shaking the paper at me.

I lifted an eyebrow at him, "I need the exp. Besides how is monster hunting on a quest any different than going to the training grounds?"

"You are a lady!" Lord Glade snapped, "You must me the model of propriety. To go on a quest with males means you will be spending the night outdoors with them without a chaperone. You mustn't do that, or your reputation will be ruined, Miss Adamare."

"I must or mustn't do anything other than give that flyer to the receptionist. Now give it to me." I retorted. I made a lunge for the paper and Lord Glade yanked it back out of my reach. Putting my hands on my hips I gave him a frosty glare.

He stepped around me and re-pinned the flier to the board. I watched as his eyes looked over the requests on the right side of the board. Finally, he snarled and pulled the Kitty request off the board.

"If you are insisting on doing a quest this weekend, then this is the one we will do." Lord Glade snapped.

I faked my best pout and pretended to be upset at the quest he had chosen. Apparently, he really wasn't awake or else he would have seen that it required flame resistance and had a minimum level. Kane snatched the request from him and then turned to me with a questioning gaze in his eyes.

I smiled slightly at him and nodded. He turned and walked to the counter.

A few minutes later, we were signed up for the quest. The reception is politely handed over a map of the latest sightings of the Kitty and an enchanted rope for capturing it. We bought provisions from the receptionist and then headed out.