Chapter 5

"When can I see the paper that the quest is on?" I asked as I held up my hand.

"Sure, you can let me grab it from my backpack," said Cipher as she rummages through her backpack. 

"OK, what are you looking for? If you don't mind me asking," asked Scáthach as she collected her backpack.

"Here is the paper with the quest on it," said Cipher as she handed it over.

"Thanks, let's see what it has on it," I said, looking at the quest. "Here is what I am looking for. Two strikes on the paper,"

"What does that mean, then?" asked Scáthach, looking at the paper.

"It means that we can take the quest even though it's originally two ranks above us," I said as I handed the paper back to Cipher.

"Thanks, I will put it back into my pack," said Cipher. 

"What are we waiting for? Let's get a move on," said Scáthach.

"Yes, you are right, then are we waiting?" I asked, looking at the other two people. 

"OK, then follow your lead then," said Cipher.

"Well, then we are on the home stretch. I can see the city walls from here," I said, pointing at the wall.

"Do you have a far sight or what?" asked Cipher.

"Yes, I do. Could you tell me why do you want to know?" I asked.

"I was wondering why you can see that. All I see is fog," said Cipher. 

"Wow Wren, do you have something special or what?" asked Cipher.

"I don't know right now, but it's something that I can do," I said.

"Oh, I see then. What are we waiting for? Let's get a move on," said Scáthach. "Oh, there is the guard station up ahead. Get your guild cards out,"

"Right then, what are we waiting for then?" I said, getting out my wooden guild card.

"Yes, that is the guild card," said Scáthach, pulling out her emerald card. 

"Ah, Scáthach you are coming back from a quest? Ah, what are those?" asked one guard. "May I see your guild cards please?"

"Here are our guild cards," I said, handing my guild card to the guard. 

"So, one emerald rank and two wooden ranks. Isn't there supposed to be another person in your group?" asked the guard.

"Yes, there is supposed to be another person in our group. We need to talk to the guild master first," said Scáthach.

"OK, that is all that I need to know. Here are your guild cards back," said the guard, handing our guild cards back to us.

"Then we are off then," said Scáthach, walking toward the guild building.

"What will we say to the guild master when we get back to the guild?" asked Cipher looking at the other two.

"That we completed the quest and one of our party members got taken by the elves," I said.

"OK, then there is the adventurer's guild we will go inside," said Cipher as she walked into the adventurer's guild.

"OK, we will talk to one receptionist first before the guild master," said Scáthach as she walked up to one receptionist.

"Oh, Scáthach brought you by the guild?" asked Sapphire, the receptionist.

"We have a quest that we need to turn in," said Scáthach as she gestured to Cipher.

"Here is the quest that we completed, and here are the fire wolves," said Cipher, gesturing to the spheres that were outside.

"OK, thanks for your help. Please, present your guild cards," said Sapphire.

We presented our guild cards to the receptionist.

"There you go. See you next time for a quest," said Sapphire.

"Now, we need to talk to the guild master," I said as I headed toward the guild master room.

"You wanted to talk with me about what exactly?" asked Wix as he walked down the stairs of the guildhall.

"We were on our way back from the quest when my brother was taken away after insulting the princess of the elves," said Cipher, looking at the guild master. "Is there any way that the guild can help?"

"What do you mean he was insulting her?" asked Guild Master Wix.

"He called her a slave. She is not a slave," I said. 

"I see, let me see what I can do about it," said Guild Master Wix as he turned to go back to the guild master.

"OK, what do you think we should do? Will we wait for the guild master to get back to us?" asked Cipher.

"Don't we need to do our own thing?" asked Scáthach. 

"Oh yes, that is true then let's get a move on," said Cipher.

"Yes, it will be best if we wait until we get called to the guild," I said, turning toward the door. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get moving on."

"Yes, it will be best if we get a move on," said Scáthach.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Yelled Cipher as she walked out the door to the adventurer's guild.

"Meet back here in one hour, so that we see what the guild master has to say about it," I said as I headed toward the church.

"See you later than that," said Scáthach as she walked away from the adventurer's guild.

"OK, then I will get a move on as well. Welcome. What so that I still have time to do what I want to do," said Cipher as she left the area.

"OK, the capital is pretty massive. I wonder what direction the church is in?" I asked, looking around the area. "Oh, there it's,"

"Welcome. What brings you to the church?" said the nun.

"I wanted to communicate with the gods," I said. 

"I see, right this way," said the nun as she walked into the church.

"OK then, I will follow you," I said, walking into the church. 

Ten statues created a half circle around an orb on a pedestal. Benches lined the room.

"This way, please," said the nun, pointing to the orb.

"OK then, put my hand in this orb," I said, putting my hand on the orb and I got teleported to a hall.

"Oh, he is here," said Zana, looking down from her chair." 

"Is there anything that you want to talk to me about?" I asked. 

"Well, there is something that we want to talk to you about," said Sho as she looked at the rest of the gods.

"OK, I am listening to what is going to be said," I said, looking at the gods.

"May I know if you saw the vault?" asked Aros.

"Yes, I saw the vault. It's surrounded by monsters," I said.

"Yes, that one. What are your thoughts on wiping the floor of those goblins?" asked Aros.

"Before I answer that question I have to ask. What are you doing?" I asked.

"All that we can say at the moment is this. There is something in there that the hero needs," said Drycor.

"So, you want me to get it, right?" I asked, looking up at the gods.

"Yes, that is correct. We will let you know more once you collect that object," said Sho.

"When you come back to the church we will talk more," said Ser.

"OK, I will see you later," I said as I bowed my head as the gods got up from their seats and left the hall.

"How was it?" asked the nun.

"It was great. I need to get a move on," I said, turning away and leaving the church.

"Wren!" Yelled Scáthach as she stormed into the Church. "You are late,"

"We already talked to the guild master, and he wants us to not getting my brother. The guild will handle that," said Cipher.

"Did the visit to the church take that long?" I asked.

"That I don't know that said we need to get a move on," said Scáthach.

"Could you tell me why is that what is going on?" I asked.

"The vault is going to be raided today by a bunch of adventurers," said Cipher.

"I see then what are we waiting for. Let's get a move on," said Scáthach.

"Right then, let's meet the other adventurers," I said, walking towards the gates of the capital.

"Where is the meeting place?" asked Cipher as she looked at the bed.

"Looks to me it's an old outpost in the area," said Scáthach.

"OK, then what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on then," I said as we got to the gate.

"Yes, I agree then let's get a move on," said Cipher.

"Your guild cards please," said one of the gate guards.

"Here you go," I said, handing my guild card to the guard.

The other two handed over their guild cards to the guard as well.

"OK, thank you for these, let me see," said the guard. "I see, then here you go, your guild cards,"

"Thanks, we will be off then," said Cipher, putting her guild card back into her backpack.

"OK, then let's get a move on," said Scáthach as she collected the pace.

"Wait up, Scáthach. We need to go together," I said.

"If you can't keep up your stamina, you need to train to get it up," said Scáthach.

"Ahh! Now let's get a move on," said Cipher, and she ran.

"Could you tell me why did she move faster? She is about to fall." I said that Cipher fell to the ground. "See what I said?"

 "You were right. Let's get her back up off the ground," said Scáthach, walking over to where Cipher fell.

"Are you alright, Cipher?" asked Scáthach as reached out her hand.

 "Yes, I am all right then. Do you think you can give me your hand?" said Cipher, grabbing hold of Scáthach's hand.

"There you go, are you OK?" asked Scáthach, getting Cipher off the ground.

"OK, you two, we are running late and we need to go," I said.

"Oh, then let's get a move on then," said Cipher as she walked.

"Please, be careful so that you don't fall again," said Scáthach. 

"OK, I will be more careful next time, so that does not happen," said Cipher.

"Let's get a move on so that we are not late," I said as I walked toward the rondeau.

"Heard that we will follow you then," said Scáthach as she walked. "I wonder what adventurers we will meet there?"

"That is a significant question that I don't have the answer to at all," said Cipher. "All I know is that we need to go to the meeting area,"

"OK, you two, we see who is there when we get there. Though that said some of the higher-level adventurers will wonder why we are here," I said.

"Well, at least you two, but not me," said Scáthach as she continued to walk.

"That is true what you said. Well, let's not worry about it and do what we can do," said Cipher.

"Understand then let's get a move on and get to our destination," said Scáthach.

"Are we going to see more races here?" asked Cipher as she looked around.

"Not sure about that, but we will see when we get there," I said. 

"Well, that makes sense to me," said Scáthach as she turned her head to the right to talk to the rest of the group.

"We still need to get my brother back somehow though," said Cipher.

"Yes, we will get him back, right, Wren?" asked Scáthach.

"Yes, it's only a matter of time till we get him back, so for the moment let's focus on the task at hand," I said.

"OK, I will focus on the task at hand and we will get back to my brother," said Cipher as she ran ahead of the group.

"Wait up! You are going too fast. We need to stay together as a group," yelled Scáthach.

"Oh, sorry I will slow down then so that we can walk together," said Cipher as she slowed down her pace.

"Could you tell me why did you want to get there as fast as possible?" I asked as I looked at Cipher.

"I don't know why I want to get there as soon as possible," said Cipher.

Shaking her head, "That is not a substantial reason to get there as soon as possible," said Scáthach.

"Then we get there when we get there," I said as I continued to walk. "Is there something that you are not telling us?" 

"No, there is not anything that I did not tell you," said Cipher.

"OK, then. Sorry for asking about that," I said.

"Oh, I see the group of adventurers up ahead," said Scáthach as she continued to walk.

"Could you tell me why are there two people that only completing one quest here?" said one for the adventurers. "They will slow everyone down,"

"What did you say about my party member?" Scáthach looked furiously at the adventurer. "If I said that to you, Gram, would you like it if I said that about you or your party?"

"No, but…" Gram said as his voice trailed off.

"Your voice trails off, so that means that you can't say anything at all," said Scáthach, shaking her head back and forth.

"Um, yes, that is true. I can't say that it's not," said Gram, looking around at everyone.

"Are you sorry for what you said?" asked Scáthach as she looked at Gram. 

"Yes, I am sorry. Would everyone please forgive me?" asked Gram as he looked around and saw the other adventurers.

"We forgive you, Gram. That said, we won't forget," said Cyprus as she looked at Gram. "Ah, Scáthach, what brings you to this gathering of adventurers? I will assume the vault?" asked Cyprus as she looked at Scáthach and the rest of her party. 

"Yes, we are also here for the vault," said Scáthach as she looked Cyprus straight in the eyes.

"Are you missing one, I don't see Grey anywhere?" asked Cyprus as she looked around at the other adventurers.

"Yes, we are missing one person in our group. He is in the Evergreen Forest," I said.

"Could you tell me why is he with the elves?" asked Cyprus again, looking at Scáthach.

"He called the princess of the forest something that he was not supposed to do. He then got taken away by that elf," said Cipher, shaking her head. " brother, what am I going to do with him?" 

"Oh, boy that is not good at all. What did that guild master have to say about that?" asked Gram. 

"Nothing at the moment. That said, when we get back to the capital, who knows what will happen," said Scáthach.

"Don't mess with the elves. They know what they are doing," said Hamish.

"Could you tell me why do you know that? Did something happen to you?" asked Scáthach as she looked at Hamish.

"Yes, you could say that I got married to an elf. Something that I did get everything messed up," said Hamish as his whole body shook.

"What did you do?" asked Scáthach, looking at Hamish. 

"I kissed a girl elf on the lips," said Hamish. 

"Oh, Hamish, what are you talking about?" asked an elf that walked over to the group.

"I was talking about you to these adventurers," said Hamish, stepping to one side as an elf came walking up to the group. 

"Are you going to introduce me or do I need to do that myself?" asked the elf.

"No, you don't need to do that at all. Everyone, this is my wife Emerth," said Hamish.

"Hello it's nice to meet all of you," said Emerth looking at the group that had their eyes wide open. "You want to know how he pulled that off?"

"Yes, to my knowledge, elves, and humans can't get married or have children," said Cipher, looking at Emerth with a confused look on her face.

"That is not true at all. Though that said it's rare for a marriage of two different races to marry. Oh, and I am not here as an adventure, at least not at the moment," said Emerth. 

"OK, why are you here then?" asked Scáthach, looking at Emerth.

"Quiet your two. Someone is about to talk," I said, pointing to someone that was standing on one wall outside of the vault.

"OK, we will be quiet for now, but that said this convention is not over," said Gram as he left.

"Sorry about him, he wants to fight some monster and get the reward," said Cyprus as she bowed her head and left to go after him.

"Well, now that everyone is here it's time to show you what each group needs to do," said the person on the wall. "I am Max and I will oversee the operation," 

"Does anyone know who this Max is?" asked Cipher, looking around at the sizable group. 

Scáthach denied knowing anyone named Max or considering him a higher rank.

"I see well. This is interesting to hear. That just means that we need to monitor him, right?" asked Cipher.

"Yes, that is correct," I said.

"Quiet the two of you and listen," said Scáthach.

"Now, to the matter at hand the vault itself," said Max.

"Finally, we can hear the plan," I said

"Let me see how many groups are here?" asked Max, looking around at the gathering of adventurers.

"Yes, Max, everyone is here," said Emily, looking around at the adventurers that are gathered here.

"OK, then I can start the description of the plan," said Max as he turned and walked towards a board that was in the center of the wall.

"What is he going to show us?" I asked, looking at Max.

"That I don't know what he is going to do. That said, we can find out what he is going to say just by listening to him," said Scáthach.

"We sent a scouting party into the vault to see what is in there. The group reported back to me that there are passageways that disappear and reappear. Some hallways end out of nowhere," said Max as he turned back to the gathering of adventurers. "Questions so far?"

The group for adventurers that were there shake their hand in no direction.

"OK, then we will continue with the briefing. On to the monsters, you will find the vault. The first floor has Slimes everywhere, so watch your step. The floors after the monsters get more and more difficult to handle," said Max.

"OK, is that all the briefing for this vault?" asked Gram, looking at Max.

"Yes, that is the briefings for the vault. Thank you all for listening and happy hunting," said Max as he got off of the wall.

"Well, what was interesting to see?" I said, as I turned to the two, Cipher and Scáthach. "What do you think we will do right now?"

"Yes, that was interesting to hear. Do you want to move on to our first vault?" Scáthach turned and walked toward the entrance to the vault.

"So, we follow her into the vault?" asked Cipher. 

"Yes, we have to follow her into the vault," I said, turning my head to the left and looking at Cipher.

"That is true," I said, thinking. "Could you tell me why didn't Max say much about the lower levels?" 

"I don't know, but we will find out when we are down there," said Scáthach.

"We will follow your lead then, since we don't know what is down there," I said, looking at the entrance of the vault.

"Should we go into the vault?" asked Cipher looking at the entrance to the vault.

"Yes, that is what we are here to do," said Scáthach, walking into the vault. "Are you waiting for my permission to follow, or are you coming?"

"OK, we are following you?" I asked.

"Yes, that is the plan," said Scáthach as she drew her blade. 

"Then what are we standing here for? Let's get a move on and get down there," said Cipher, walking into the vault.

"Oh, look we have slimes going everywhere," I said, shooting an arrow at a slime.

"Could you tell me why does it have to be slimed?" said Cipher as she looked at the slimes that were all over the corridor.

"Do you not like slimes?" asked Scáthach as she swung her sword at the slimes.

"Yes, I don't like slimes at all!!" Said Cipher, backing away.

"Do you think you can tell us why you don't like slimes, or can you not tell us?" I asked, looking at Cipher. "Mind you, we will not judge you at all."

"OK, I will tell you why I don't like slimes at all," said Cipher as she took a breath. "When I was training, when I was younger, I fell into a pool of slime, and from that I didn't want to make slime ever again," 

"I see then. Let's get past this area and get to the next floor," I said as I walked to the stairs that lead to the second floor. "I wonder where the other adventurers' groups are at all."

"They are on the lower floors," said Scáthach as she took a step down the stairs.

"I see then. Let's get a move on then," said Cipher as she walked down the stairs.

"We will be careful going down the stairs," I said as I stepped onto the second floor. "Everyone ready for a fight," 

"We already have our weapons ready," said Scáthach.

"Yes, Scáthach is right. You don't need to tell us to do that," said Cipher.

"OK, then what are we going to do?" asked Scáthach as she looked around the corridor. "Let's get a move on, then."

Rattle. 

"What was that noise?" I asked, looking around the corridor.

"Look over there," said Cipher as she pointed at a group of skeletons.

"Great, just great, everyone ready to get this over with?" asked Scáthach.

"Ow! That hurts, take that," said Cipher, swinging her sword at the skeleton.

 "Watch out, you will get hurt," said Scáthach, getting to Cipher. "Well, that was not fast enough,"

As she said that, Cipher got knocked back into a wall.

"Ow that hurt. That said that was still weak," said Cipher as she got up from the wall.

"Could you tell me why do you need to be so reckless in your actions here?" I asked as I shot another arrow at a skeleton.

"Well, at least these are just skeletons, so we need nothing too weird about anything else," said Scáthach, looking around the corridor.

Just as she said that, a rumbling was heard from forth down the corridor.

"Rawr,"

"What was that noise? It doesn't sound good," I said, drawing my bow back.

"RAWR!!! Thump. Thump. Thump,"

A giant lion barreled toward us.

"Crap! everyone, get ready. The lion is on its way towards us," said Cipher.

"We see it. Let me get a quick shot off," I said as an arrow zipped through the air. "Yes, a direct hit. Oh, crap, watch out,"

Then, the lion lunged at the group.

"Crap, that hurts," said Scáthach, getting thrown to one wall. "Could you tell me why can't I get up?"

"Scáthach, are you OK?" asked Cipher, reaching her hand out. "That had to hurt. When you got thrown against the wall,"

"Yes, I found it," said Scáthach, reaching out her hand. 

"Up you go," said Cipher as she pulled Scáthach off the ground. Then looked over at me. "Wren, watch out, for you about to … Well, that did not work, and you got hit," 

"Wow, that hit me," I said, looking over at the other two. "You two ok over there?"

"Yes, we are OK. let's get a move on then," said Cipher, walking down the corridor.

"Understood that," I said as I walked down the corridor following Cipher.

"What do you think we will find on the next floor? I hope we find a titanium golem," said Scáthach, looking eager to continue going into the vault.

 "Why do you want to find one that isn't like one of the strongest ores you can find in a place like these?" I said, looking at Scáthach.

"Yes, and that is why I want to find it and slay the beast," said Scáthach.

"Could you tell me why, do you want to slay the titanium golem?" asked Cipher.

"I might have gotten a quest when we went back to the adventurer's guild," said Scáthach, looking at the other two people.

"OK, we can do that, but that said next time. Let us know for the next time," I said. 

"Got it. So, what do you think? We will see what is on the next floor," said Scáthach.

"Depends on what we see that is doing," said Cipher.

"OK, then we are almost on the second floor. Please watch your step," I said, stepping on the second-floor corridor.

"You don't need to tell us twice," said Scáthach, stepping onto the second floor. "I wonder what monsters are on these floors," 

"There is one way to find out what is around here," said Cipher, looking around to see what was around.

"May I ask if you saw anything around here that we need to worry about?" asked Scáthach.

"Not at the moment, no. That said, doesn't mean that there is anything to worry about," said Cipher.

"That is true. Makes sense to me," I said, letting up my bow and knocking an arrow.

"Could you tell me why are you so tense at the moment?" asked me, Scáthach, looking around at the different corridors.

"It's so that I can be ready for anything," I said, still looking around to see if there was anything to attack.

 "Is it just me, or does it seem to you that the walls are moving around?" asked Cipher looking around. 

"You are not wrong. The walls are moving on their own," said Scáthach, looking at a wall. 

As she said that, the wall moved to reveal a passageway through.

"Should we go through there and see what is through there?" I asked as I stepped to the right.

"Yes, we can keep our guards up, the two of you," said Scáthach.

"You got that," said Cipher.

As we continued to walk, we heard metal clashing.