Vermin and Valor

Arlan spent the remainder of the morning in the guild's vicinity, observing and learning. Since he couldn't take a quest officially without retrieving his tag from Gareth (which required coins he still lacked), he decided to see if any novice parties might let him tag along informally. Often, new adventurers grouped up at the guild hall's bulletin board where beginner quests were posted: things like gathering herbs from the edge of the forest, slaying a few giant rats in a cellar (Arlan gulped at that one, thinking of Bones), or scouting the very shallowest parts of the dungeon for resources.

Sure enough, a small knot of youth around his age was gathered by the board, discussing plans. Arlan sidled closer, pretending to read the posted notices. He recognized two of them as the pair who registered before him – the Mage girl and Swordsman boy. With them was another girl dressed in leather armor with a short bow slung on her back, and a stocky boy carrying a woodcutting axe who looked like he hadn't decided if he was a warrior or not.

"I'm telling you, the slime cleaning quest is the easiest," the axe-boy was saying. "Those green slimes barely even fight back. And old Carla pays a silver for each bucket of slime you clear from her well."

The archer girl made a face. "Ugh, but that's so gross! I'd rather fight a couple of rats in a cellar than scoop slime goop."

The Mage girl shrugged. "We could split up tasks. But maybe sticking together is safer for our first try."

The Swordsman boy looked around and noticed Arlan hovering. "Hey, you need something?" he asked, not unkindly, but wary.

Arlan took a breath, stepping forward. "Uh, hi. I couldn't help overhearing. Are you all new adventurers? I am too. Summoner class," he introduced himself, offering a slight smile. He tried to stand a tad straighter, to not look as feeble as he felt.

They exchanged glances. The archer girl spoke first, eyeing him. "Summoner? Do you have a familiar or something?" She seemed intrigued.

The safe answer was a half-truth. "Yes, a small one. I can call a, um, spirit creature to assist." He hoped they wouldn't insist on seeing it right away.

The Mage nodded politely. "I'm Mira, a Mage. This is Tomas," she gestured to the Swordsman, "Leila" – the archer – "and Beren." The axe-holding boy gave a little salute when named. "We just joined up. We're looking at doing a beginner quest together. Want to team up?"

Arlan's heart lifted at her friendliness. "Yes, thank you. I'm Arlan." He decided to omit his lack of tag for now. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice or care in the short term.

Leila tapped a notice on the board. "This one seems decent: 'Clear the vermin from Miller's storage shed – reward 20 copper'. It's right here in town. Probably just a bunch of rats or maybe a snake."

Tomas chuckled, "The infamous Level 1 rat quest, of course." He looked at Arlan. "No offense to your summoning or anything."

Arlan forced a grin, hiding his irony. If only they knew I literally have a rat in my pocket. "None taken. Rats can be vicious," he said. Bones shifted a little at that, and Arlan hoped the movement wasn't noticeable.

Beren the axe-boy rubbed his chin. "20 copper split five ways isn't much, but it's something. And maybe we get some combat practice."

Mira flipped her short brown hair back and added, "Also, no one will die fighting rats, hopefully. I'd rather not jump straight into a dungeon on day one."

It was agreed. The group took the rat-clearance quest slip from the board to show at the guild desk. Arlan hung back awkwardly while they turned it in, since he technically had no tag to present. Thankfully, the clerk just wrote down Mira and Tomas's names as the responsible ones and said to inform Old Miller the guild sent them.

As they left the hall, Leila asked Arlan, "What sort of creature can you summon? If we're going to fight rats, maybe a cat spirit or a snake spirit would be helpful?"

Arlan hesitated, thinking quickly. "Well, it's a small... erm, ferret-like spirit. It's quick and can bite." That seemed plausible enough.

Tomas unsheathed his simple iron sword with a grin. "Between that, my sword, and Beren's axe, those rats won't know what hit 'em."

Miller's storage shed was at the edge of town by the mill (appropriately). Along the way, the group chatted lightly. Arlan mostly listened. They all had their reasons for joining: Mira's family needed money, Tomas wanted to be a famous hero, Beren was a lumberjack's son who'd rather fight monsters than chop wood, and Leila dreamed of becoming a ranger exploring far-off lands. When asked, Arlan shrugged and said, "I've been on my own a while. Adventuring seems like a way to improve my life." He left it at that, and they didn't pry; plenty of orphans turned to the guild.

Old Miller greeted them outside a large wooden shed, wringing his cap nervously. "Thank goodness you're here. Something's been stirring up the pests something fierce. I heard chittering and crashing in there all night. Lost my cat two days ago, too—found poor Whiskers dead by the door with bite marks." The old man shook his head.

The party exchanged looks of mild alarm. "Sounds like a lot of rats," Leila commented.

"Or something bigger that likes eating cats," Mira muttered.

Arlan felt a cold sweat. Could it be... another undead? No, unlikely. Probably just a big snake or a weasel. Either way, they had to handle it. And he would have to use Bones carefully.

"We'll take care of it, sir," Tomas said bravely. He led the way, pushing open the shed's creaky door, sword drawn. One by one they entered the dim interior, ready for their very first battle.