QuestWright BK2 C37: It All Moves so Quickly (Patreon)

Author's note:

Aloha. So, I have a tournament this weekend, but it won't stop me from getting two chapters out. I have another eSports tournament next weekend with my kiddos where I unfornutately have to host. However, it's the last of the school year, so should be all gravy. I'm still going to try to get two chapters out to you, but wanted to give a bit of warning in case anything was delayed.

Work-wise, my job is also moving out of a high-intensity cycle we've been locked in for the last 3 months and we're gradually entering the draw-down phase we call "end of year". By the end of this school year, I will have graded 4000 assignments, created at least 100 assignments from scratch, and attended...well...somewhere around a thousand meetings. Being a teacher ain't for the light of heart in a hundred different ways, so I'm very much looking forward to summer mid-May.

When summer arrives, I plan on taking a week off of everything to decompress, then I"m right back to writing. By that point, we should be entering the last stages of QuestWright Book 3 (I keep titling it book 2 just for my off-head-canon). That means I'll be knocking out the chapters rather quickly as I finally have the time to focus on writing. With its completion, Symphony 4 should already be done, and I'll be working my way through editing QuestWright Book 1, including adding in the chapters we talked about for splitting The Guildhall Grind in two.

So, in other words, lots to look forward to.

Now, the upcoming chapter is a bit of a rollback from the intensity of the dungeon; however, we're diving right back into the dungeon soon, and as promised, we're going to time-skip the shit out of things, as I've already established a lot of what I wanted you to know about his abilities and Liberty in general. Ooof, long sentence there, though grammatically correct.

So, as promised, the chapters will just keep on hitting.

Now, ReaderQuest!

Quest ID: JDM-0001-OB-EA

[Tier 1 Observe Quest]

Assignment: Observe Nature

People often find themselves walking through beautiful places without realizing it. Repetitious travel can often make the most majestic locations suddenly seem monotonous.

Your Task

Go outside.

Find a natural element.
Tree. Grass. Water. Sky. Dirt. Insect. Anything not built by human hands.

Stand or sit with it for ten uninterrupted minutes.

No phone, or music or talking, though partnership would be suggested just for the action. 

Then, just watch.

Notice movement, light, and sound. How does the area breathe and change as you participate?

Rules

You must remain in one place.
You must keep your attention on the natural element.
If your mind wanders, bring it back.

Completion Condition

Ten minutes of continuous observation completed.

Timeframe: One Week

Reward: 8 XP

The world is always doing something.
Most people just never stop long enough to notice.

—
J D Mullenary Sr
The Original QuestWright

Chapter 37: It All Moves so Quickly

Cass wasn’t one to waste time. If trouble was coming his way, he’d rather meet it head-on instead of allowing it to wait in the wings of his future. Moore had once said Procrastination was just obfuscation of one’s responsibilities. Cass had taken that to heart.

With shaky legs, he arrived at the Scriptorium on the third day he’d been missing. Even for that day, he was late. Rather than go straight to his Annex, he asked and found Senior QuestWright Mirelle in an office near the vault he hadn’t noticed before. She wasn’t happy to see him.

With a glower, she listened as he explained that he’d been sick. It didn’t seem to matter much.

“Five Dockings, QuestWright Vale. Three for each missing day, and two more for forcing other QuestWrights to pick up your slack. Your next paycheck will be quite small indeed, and I don’t foresee you leaving Deliveries anytime soon.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Cass replied weakly, not pretending to be meek as he was so tired it didn’t seem to matter.

The sharp look on her face slightly softened. “Since the first half of your Quests have already been picked up, can you please finish the rest?”

“Of course, Ma’am.”

“Go.”

Shaky-legged, he made it to his Annex and collapsed in place. Maggie and Noah looked at him, but didn’t say anything. Nevertheless, his ears picked up what they were saying as he forcibly pushed them to listen in.

Before leaving the fifth ring, he’d gotten together with Adya and Bella to unlock a new mark. With his second upgrade to Path of the Index, he and Adya had chosen to unlock Attuned Listening, resetting his experience blockade until Adya caught up to his level again.

It took some getting used to, but if he really focused, he could hear things that not even his enhanced ears could normally pick up.

“-looks terrible. Are they killing the boy?”

“Not our problem, Mags,” He patted the gun, safely back in its holster on his hip. “We’ve done a lot for him already. At some point, you need to let go.”

The gust of air she exhaled was audibly loud as she agreed. Cass stopped listening in as Quirrel dropped by with his Re-Quests. The Clerk didn’t ask about his absence, and Cass didn’t offer, though the man was as friendly as always.

The rest of the day moved in a tiring blur before he was back in his apartment. Which was currently occupied by two figures mid-heated embrace.

“Ren..Ana.”

“Cass!” The older woman said in alarm, slipping a half-fallen bra strap back on. “We didn’t know you were back.”

“I see you’ve been greatly concerned,” Cass replied with a worn smirk. “Both of you look…so excited to see me.”

“Ahem, I should be moving along, Ana. Will I see you for dinner tomorrow?”

“Yes, please, Ren.” She got out with a deep blush. Then, as if shaking herself, she gave him a very direct look, “I look forward to our evening out together.”

“I as well.” The armored man stepped toward Cass, who had to move sideways to let him pass. “Nice to see you well, Cass.”

“You too, Ren.”

The door closed behind him, and Cass turned to the sound of Ana clapping her hands together. As if by magic, her clothing was already fixed up. “So, what would you like for dinner? I have plenty of goods in stock.”

“Good, because we’re about to be broke for a week.”

That night, and for the third day in a row, he performed none of his Survivor Dailies. Johan had dropped by on that morning and had advised against his doing anything strenuous for a while. That caused Alan to delay their trip into the Underdark by at least a week and gave Cass an absurd amount of free time. Sadly, it also meant he couldn’t use the Quill for his and Adya’s nightly excursions.

One odd change to his schedule was that he was sleeping longer. He’d grown used to only needing 4 hours a day, but he woke up with only an hour to go until he needed to be in his Annex back at the Scriptorium.

The day passed in a blur, as did the next and the next after. They weren’t together as she’d warned that he needed recovery, and that meant resting as often as possible. Experience funneled in, all held in abeyance for Adya, and the only chance he got to see them was when they renewed their Contract by touch on the third day.

On the morning of the fourth, he felt a little better. On the 5th, he was almost as good as new. So it was that on the sixth day since passing out in the Dungeon, Cass sent Pellin a message. Stepping outside, he met Adya and Bella, who smiled and neighed separately. For once, the Scout wasn’t in leathers, but a pretty sundress of a soft yellow with pink lilacs spread across it.

“You look nice. Pellin said you had a plan for tonight.”

Cass, too, had changed, though his white Guild robe was in his trusty bag. He was outfitted in brown trousers with a stiff-collared green polo shirt buttoned almost to the top, with a small horse etched over the left breast. He’d had it made with the relatively little money he had left over from his week's pay, using Ana as a go-between. 

Stepping closer, he tapped on her knee. “You know me and my plans. Hop off, I’ll take the lead.”

They switched from their usual places and moved through the gates relatively unscathed. Bella was uncommonly frisky as she snorted and glared at any moving creature that grew too close.

Overprotective much, girl?

“So you’re definitely feeling better? I don’t want this to set you back at all.” Adya called, her hands uncommonly tight on his stomach.

“Right as rain, mostly. I’m going to start up my workouts again tomorrow.”

“Are they hard?”

Images of Cass screaming, grunting, sweating, and sometimes crying flipped through his mind. “Sometimes.”

Neigh

He leaned close to the horse’s ears, “Pipe down, girl. She doesn’t need to know about that. Let me look cool. Be a good winghorse.”

Bella rolled her eyes in a full arc as they moved through the gate separating the fourth and fifth rings. As soon as they moved through the gates, Cass did something he’d only tried once.

With Battlefield Memory’s upgrade changing it from a passive ability to an active one, he could now switch it on at will. He’d tested it once, and it was a bit of a game-changer, but a small one so far. As such, he slowed the horse down as they entered city traffic and activated it.

His vision disappeared as he ran through several memories as if he were living them at that exact moment. Speedrunning his own life had a certain charm to it, and he had to try not to pause anytime he got a good look at Adya, especially when she smiled. 

One neat thing about the upgrade was that it didn’t stop Profile from working. That meant he could look back and see tagged names and locations without trying too hard. Using the ability this way felt almost like a cheat, but they were his memories, so really, it’s the System’s fault that he could do so. 

It also had an extra element that he hadn’t realized before. As he ran through the memories, his understanding of where they were came to the fore, giving him the precise location of the terrain around him.

So with no little confidence, he took them straight before making two turns, then stopped, dumbfounded.

“I thought that restaurant was called Jamir’s Jaunt?” He said over his shoulder.

Adya perked up, “Looks like they’re replacing the name right now.”

O-R-L-AHHH, he mentally screamed.

“Rake! I mean, we need to leave this place immediately,” Cass said with genuine fear. He intimated his feelings to Bella, who spooked forward as if they were being chased by something.

Adya clenched down on him even further, “What’s wrong?”

“That place is going to be named Orla’s something, or maybe just Orlas! If she sees me, she’ll make me come work for her, I just know it.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because I know her, I’m a Founder of Common Solutions who hasn’t done anything for the enterprise in a while, and I’m just that unlucky. Now hold on!”

In what could easily be seen as dangerous from the outside, the trio bursted across the traffic’d fifth ring, putting as much distance behind them as possible. With his enhanced hearing and even over the sound of the crowd, Cass just knew he heard Orla yelling his name as they left the area.

Probably pay for that later. Pay and Orla, what an odd combination…hehe.

They slowed the moment they saw a few Privates walking across the area in front of them. Acting as nonchalant as possible, Cass and Adya looked everywhere but at the high-level’d city guards. Even Bella didn’t meet their eyes.

In a circuitous fashion, Cass took them to several areas where they spoke with seemingly random people. And the conversation always sounded the same way.

“It was the strangest thing, young man.” An old fellow, gap-toothed smile showing as he answered Cass’s question about how business was going. “I was having the darndest time making any sales. It had to do with my shop being rather rundown. The problems just kept piling up, and I couldn’t afford to fix everything. When suddenly, a handyman down the street wandered over and asked if I wanted help sprucing the place up. Now, business is better than it’s been in a long time.”

A woman in a pristine white apron was next.

“I took on too many jobs, you see. And just when I was about ready to give up and hand in my city license, some young kids came by and offered to help. One of them is even my apprentice now.”

“Help just showed up.”

“These people helped me with my cart.”

Help was the common word they all used, almost always accompanied by a smile. The only exception was an old woman who yelled at them to leave her property if they weren’t planning to buy. Cass and Adya walked out as he laughed.

“Can’t fix that, I s’pose.”

“This has been very sweet, Cass,” Adya said with a smile, her hand taking his as Bella walked placidly beside them.

“I figured you’d understand what I was doing after the second stop.”

“First, but I am pretty observant.” She put another hand on his arm, leaning into him while they walked down the street. They stopped at a rustic spot for dinner with outside seating, and Cass noticed several bits of peeling paint on the walls. 

He stared at them for a time, organizing an Outline as Adya was finishing up her food. She noticed his eyes darting back and forth, then looked at behind her and noticed the paint as well.

“Hey,” She tapped his hand to get his attention. He blinked a few times as the screen shot off the low-hanging ceiling overhead. “This is supposed to be a date.”

“Dinner and work isn’t such a bad combination…right? I’ve missed our nights together.”

She covered his hand with hers, “Me too, but sometimes you have to turn it off and be in the moment. You know?”

Bella huffed next to them as she lifted her head from a bowl full of oats. There was a lot of meaning there, and her eyes pointed right at Adya.

How did you say all of that with a single sound?

“Sorry, I’m here, I’m here. Also, there’s something truly terrible I have to tell you.”

“What!” She leaned forward, breath held as he cracked a grin.

“I’m broke. You’re going to have to pay for dinner.”

“You suck!”

Neigh!

“You’ve gotta pay for Bella too!...What do you mean you have your own money! Where did you get any Crests from! Don’t pick things up off the ground with your mouth; that’s gross! I don’t care if you’re the richest horse in Liberty.”

After dinner, Cass pinged a few people who were loafing around and looked to be in need of some experience, then threw a sad face Adya’s way. The observant Scout sighed, “Fine. I’ll get their names.”

Three Quests quickly made in an alley, he was about to leave when Adya announced she had other plans. “Bella, turn sideways for me and look away.”

Whuff!

The betrayal!

Cass put his hands up, “What’s happening? If you want my money, I don’t have any. You can borrow from this girl I’m seeing. She’s a gorgeous brunette with sharp eyes who likes to stab things. Also, I give up.”

She reached out her hands like claws. “Perfect.”

“Perfect for what?”

Adya got closer, and the heat he felt coming from her was enough to start a flash fire. Something in the air tonight. Wait, why am I thinking right now?

Quickly, the fire that began in her found its reflection in him, all while a sensitive and uncomfortable horse stood guard.