QuestWright Bk2 C59: The Operational QuestWright (IV) (Patreon)

Woof. My power outages reached a whole new level this week. Two full days, several random hours, and I'm told I'm going to lose power again on Wednesday as they work on several transformers.

It jacked me up not only for the day of, but the days after, as being in 100 degree heat ruins you when it's an all-day affair. I wanted to get more done this week, but no dice.

Always seems to be something during the summer that slows me down.

But we have chapters, and that's always good news!

Now, off to ReaderQuestland!

Quest ID: JDM-0003-X-EA

[Tier 2 Experimental Quest]

Assignment: Unexpected Combination

Most people evaluate resources one at a time.

Your Task

Choose two things that already exist in your life.

Then combine them in a way you have never tried before.

The objective is not creativity.

The objective is to discover whether the combination produces more value than either part alone.

Examples

A skill and a hobby
A friend and an opportunity
A book and a notebook
Exercise and learning

The combination must be real.

Rules

Both components must already exist before the Quest begins.
The combination must be intentional.
You must actually attempt the combined activity.

Completion Condition

Two existing resources combined into a single experiment.

Timeframe: One Week

Reward: 12xp

Progress is not always found by acquiring something new.

—

J D Mullenary Sr
The Original QuestWright

Chapter 59: The Operational QuestWright (IV)

Over four days, Cass continuously sent the Quest Web into Liberty. He was resolved in the idea that this Quest series in particular would become a routine, meaning a new daily that the Questors could pick up at will. Feeding the poor, the sick, and the lonely. There wasn’t anything better than that.

That wasn’t all he did, either.

Each morning, before sending out the Quests, he performed his Stalwart dailies twice. Then in the evening, they stopped at the apartment, where Adya helped him complete his Tempered sets, with Gary joining in every so often. 

The goal was to unlock Way of the Cinder sooner rather than later so he could send more hidden Quests into the world. It was another unlock, but not one that he necessarily had to master. 

Besides, it was just a few exercises throughout the day. His body and Adya would appreciate it.

With his newfound goal of mastering his abilities, he began practicing doing things differently with the Quill. Cass tried creating a general Quest and assigning it to the Anchors, but the results were simple. Nothing happened.

It miffed him enough that after trying another general Quest that made no progress while still in the early morning, he pulled up the Tutorial for a quick conversation in his Annex.

“Hey.”

Yes, Cassio.

“Explain to me how Conditional Quests work. Because what happened in the Underdark still doesn’t make sense to me. Rescue and Escort touched and became Extraction. Is that right?”

That is correct. Extraction is a rare Quest-type, created through a merger and only viable through the use of the Airscript Quill.

“Then that’s not really a conditional Quest. I would call those Merged Quests. Conditional Quests almost require an if and then scenario.”

Ah, like your friend Pellin spoke of.

“You were watching then, too?”

You had the tutorial open at the time.

“True,” Cass scratched his chin, “Is there a problem creating if and then scenarios?”

To create a Quest style using the manner in which you’re speaking would require additional System Reputation.

“How much?”

At least five for each. You would also need to be wary of numerous activations in a short time period, otherwise you will quickly find your Reputation bottoming out.

“Noted.” Cass thought things over, then asked another question. “If I created a rare Quest-type through the merger, shouldn’t it appear as an option?”

No, as it is not truly unlocked. Merged Quests, as you have called them, are created conditionally in the moment.

“I see what you did there.”

Indeed.

“And if I’m willing to pay the five System Reputation for each conditional Quest,” Cass said with extra emphasis, “You’ll add that functionality to my outliner?”

It has already been added to the Tutorial…in two steps.

“Good. Thank you for the help.”

The tutorial faded away, and Cass snorted as he put the ballpoint pen in his pocket. It was his fifth day with Messages on top of Deliveries, and while things weren’t any easier, they certainly weren’t harder either. He spent a few minutes making sure that his only Quest Web was working, then asked Pellin to have Adya check on them. She reported the results to him in her apartment.

“They all called the Friend of the Fifth a blessing.”

“But that’s not the point,” Cass grumbled on the edge of Adya’s bed. “It’s not supposed to be about my alter ego. It’s supposed to be about Fifthers helping each other.”

“It can be both,” She said with a wink. “Are you really complaining that we’re doing some good in the world?”

“No,” Cass knifed a hand through the air. “Not at all. I just need to find a way to make it all about Libertians helping one another. It’s not even that much experience.”

“It might be small to you with how much you get per day, but I bet if you asked these people, they’d tell you it was a big deal.” 

She flipped some hair back from his face, then looked at him funny. He felt something flare up inside of her as she said, “Hey, how’s your eye?”

“My eye?” Cass adjusted the patch, sometimes forgetting it was there and thrown off by the turn in the conversation. “It’s fine, why?’

“Well…” Adya unzipped the side of her top, “I thought you could use both of them on a kind of Quest.”

Cass pulled off his eyepatch, the heat unmistakable now. “What kind of Quest?”

“You could call it a delivery,” She replied, a slow-forming smile spreading across her face.

Cass didn’t get to any Tempered Quests that night, which was a true shame as he was slowly approaching the point where he could unlock the next Way. Not that he minded in the least.

On the sixth day, Bella reached a big moment with her Calling the moment he touched her side. The only reason he knew was that she didn’t say a word as he mounted up. Just stood straight with her eyes unblinking as the two guards glared out at the world.

Wanting to break the tension, Cass pumped his legs against her sides. “My horse is broken,” He said as she refused to budge. “Should be just a minute.”

“It’s quite all right, QuestWright Vale.” One of them uncomfortably responded, eyeballing the golden triangles along the sides of Cass’s Journeyman robes. 

“Happens all the time,” Said the other, his tone of voice betraying the oddness of the situation.

Another two minutes passed before she neighed and galloped away. Immediately, his head was full of her voice.

Success!

“What success!?” Cass yelled against the wind as people shuffled out of the way, keeping their mouths shut when they noticed his robes.

Thou needst me in the Dungeon!

“Why?”

Thine eyes shalt not believe it!

Cass had planned to spend his evening with Adya, scouting out the next potential Quest Web. Instead, he had Bella take him straight to Caligula’s End to speak with Alan.

The old Scout was grumpily drinking a smoothie when Cass approached, and he didn’t look happy to see him. 

“What do you want, weirdo?”

Cass tapped his chin, “What’s the distance between the closed Dungeon and the new one?”

“Well, oops.” He accidentally dropped his smoothie, but it disappeared and reappeared as Will sharply yelled at him. Alan grimaced and took another sip before speaking again. 

“Even with the Guardian gone, there’s still a lot of twists and turns in there. What seems like a mile normally takes about three times as long to walk. You know that better than me.”

“Yes, in fact, I do.” Cass nodded, happy to have an opening for this conversation, “So how would you feel about bringing horses in?”

Alan snorted, “Horses? In a Dungeon?”

I shalt protect mine flock, Bella said quickly, coming over and nudging Alan with her large head as Adya tried to pull her back.

“Cut it out, damn animal.”

Tell him. Tell him that I shall protect them.

“Bella says she’ll protect the horses if we bring them in. I’ve never known her to lie. Gossip, yes, but not lie.”

I spread no false tales.

“Hey, wait a second. You have lied! You told me Orla had five boyfriends!”

“Orla does have five boyfriends,” Alan replied immediately. “She’s been dating every high-level Clerk and Administrator in the Fourth Ring. Hell, she’ll probably have a license to operate there soon.”

Cass’s jaw dropped open, “How do you know that?”

Alan pointed to his eyes, “I see. I also know, for a fact, that a scourge of Marrowinds is about to drop upon Liberty. You won’t be able to go ten feet without having to deal with them soon.”

“How-”

He pointed to his ears, “I listen too. That is, she told me it was happening.” Alan sighed, “Pretty soon, there won’t be a safe Crest in this city, not that there ever was one. Your little friend is out for total city-domination. She’ll own this place within a year. Two, if they’re lucky.”

Do I feel bad about that? The answer was fast in coming. No, I don’t.

“So, horses in a Dungeon?”

Alan took a sip, then scowled as he remembered what he was drinking and looked at Bella with the same expression. “You promise you can keep the dumb animals safe?”

Bella gave a firm and definitive nod.

“Fine. We’ll expand the entrance. Now get out of here, that’s already going to cost me more than I wanted to spend this month.”

With Alan’s agreement in hand, the trio moved off to the west side of the Fifth ring to meet some people and scout things out. He had a few more ideas for what could work as a second Quest Web, but more importantly, he and Adya talked to dozens of people. 

That meant dozens of new Profiles, and ever closer to the goal of being able to assign Quests whenever and wherever he wanted in the Fifth ring.

He slept well that night, firm in the belief that what he was doing mattered. Then, as he awoke, a realization hit him.

It’s Lottery day.

Three months had passed since Cass had arrived in Liberty. Three months away from his family, from his childhood home, and from his city. Officially, Cass had now spent more time as a QuestWright for Liberty than he ever had for Liora.

That’s a stark truth, the kind you can’t run away from.

He hadn’t received another letter from Hollis, but he had corresponded with his family back and forth in the last few weeks, including Janine. He’d even gotten a letter from Kara. They were all busy rebuilding, sparing the time to write him, though he’d only written back his mother the once.

Cass’s hesitation to inform the Liorans of his life in Liberty wasn’t because he didn’t care; it was because he was ashamed. Here he lay, on a plush, giant bed high up in a tower. And there they were, amidst the rubble of a city he’d tried to protect.

He’d been holding back these thoughts and feelings because, simply put, he hadn’t been ready for them. But after realizing it was the third lottery since his arrival, everything he’d bottled up came home to roost.

Cass had met a lot of people in Liberty, the good and the bad. Ana was a solid companion who seemed to genuinely have his best interests at heart. And it didn’t hurt that he was paying her an extra sum from every paycheck.

Jamison was still a wildcard. Though he was Cass’s second Servant, the former aide had only spoken a few sentences while they’d been near each other. But he also hadn’t been caught snooping around, so Cass put that in the win column.

Alan, Will, Team Razorwire, Joran, and Johan. They were all fighters, in one way or another. There was a camaraderie among everyone. You couldn’t spill blood without it forming. But it wasn’t the same as things back home.

Home.

That word had a new meaning for Cass. Home was the warmth of Adya and the inane humor of a System-empowered draft horse. It was a friend, holding a mace in one hand and bread in the other. 

And more, it was a Calling that allowed him to spread cheer and goodwill in a dark place. The Fifth was getting better, and if it wasn’t, it would be, just as soon as he worked some things out.

So with that thought in mind, Cass messaged Pellin, then walked out in his civilian clothes to meet up with Adya and Bella at the edge of the tower. Mounting up, he slapped his friend's rump, then leaned against Adya as Bella plodded forward.

“Let’s take it a little easy today,” Cass said in Adya’s ear. “Maybe all the way, easy.”

“Really? No plans or work today?”

“Nope. Just you, me, and Bella. Oh, and I need to write my mom and Kara.”

Tis a wondrous idea.

“Okay!”

Feeling the warmth from both of them, Cass knew he’d made the right choice.