The first order of business for the day was to get our quest rewards. Shara showed us where to do this.

Kalli and I approached a kiosk that reminded me of the prize counter at Chucky Cheese. A bored-looking man looked up as we approached, “Identification card’s please.”

We slid them across the counter and he looked at each one briefly before consulting with a thick leather book propped open on a stand. He ran his fingers down a few listings and informed us, “You are entitled to three quest rewards at this time. Let’s see, yes, 20 copper for the first one. Ahem, 20 copper for the second. And, give me a moment. Wait, this can’t be correct. Please wait here.”

The guild employee scooped the book up off of the stand and took it in the back. I looked at Kalli and Shara in confusion. Shara giggled and informed us. He’s probably confused about why the third reward is so high. You two are D ranked after all.

The man confirmed this when he returned with a supervisor. An old woman appraised the two of us intently through a pair of bifocals before she noticed Shara standing behind us, “Ah, Lady Shaw. I take it some multi-questing was in order. Very well, Alfred, you may pay out the rewards. It is obvious that no unsanctioned exploits were used.”

Alfred stiffened and replied, “Yes, ma’am. Right away.”

He reached into his pouch and removed something that looked like a roll of Ritz crackers.

PLUNK

The sound it made as he laid it on the counter did not sound like crackers at all. I could tell that something heavy was inside of the brown wrapper, probably gold coins. He took out another smaller roll and opened it with his thumb. He counted off 40 of the small copper crests and slid them along with the larger unbroken roll across the counter, “100 gold and 40 copper crests. The quest reward for completing 2 F ranked and 1 S ranked quests.”

Kalli glanced briefly at the packet containing the 100 gold.I scooped up the 40 bronze and tipped them into my bag and motioned to the gold.

Go on Kalli. That’s your cut.

She gave me an incredulous look. No way. That’s not fair. You take half.

I winked and reminded her.

You need it for your quest. Don’t forget. It’s on a timer.

Shara was suddenly very interested in what we were talking about. What quest? Do you need money? I have money.

We both looked back at the kid. Kalli’s eyes widened and we could both feel her moment of panic. She replied. I’m sorry Shara. This is something I have to do on my own. It's personal.

The kid opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it. The next stop is the appraiser. You guys are going to love this.

Kalli and I shared an uneasy look as Shara guided us to a private room in the back of the main floor. We passed through a curtain that revealed a cluttered room lined with expensive-looking artifacts. A shriveled old lady slowly made her way over to us, hunched over a cane.

The cane shook visibly under her as she looked up at us, “Greetings adventurers. What small trinket do you have for an old woman’s eyes this fine day?”

I nodded an unspoken message to Kalliphae and she took the book out of her bag, which I quickly returned to its full size. The old lady motioned for her to place it on a table and slowly made her way over. She pulled up a stool and sat in front of the book, pulling open the cover carefully.

She studied it for a long time before looking back up at us, “Has this artifact come into contact with a manipulator by chance?”

My heart jumped in my chest at the mention of my true class. Both Shara and Kalli looked confused. The appraiser quickly moved on, “This ancient tome seems to have been edited at some point in time. It’s impossible to tell when it was done, so it likely passed through the hands of the manipulator that brought about the dark ages.”

I became suddenly nervous about my class as she flipped through a few pages and continued, “This is a storybook. Or more appropriately, a book of songs. The title of the first story is very intriguing. The Ballad of Twig: A Cautionary Tale of the Dangers of Status Manipulation. It warns of the very thing that was done to this book. The fact that it sheds light on the class increases the value. Unfortunately, the book does not contain any inherent magic of its own, which greatly reduces its value. I appraise this book at approximately 20 gold crests.”

What do you want to do?

Kalliphae walked up to the book and asked the old woman, “Is it difficult to learn how to read this book?”

The appraiser looked up and gave Kalli a hard look, “The language in the book is old, but not forgotten. The core language used here is greek, but the key parts that would confuse the uninitiated are written in Celestean. Young Miss Shaw should know the basics of the language.”

Shara perked up at the sound of her name and confirmed, “Yes. I can read Celestean. It was one of the languages I learned in primary school.”

The kid raced over to the book, nearly knocking me to the floor. She ran her finger across a blue box that contained writing that, for all I could tell, were squiggles. She translated, “This part here tells about Twig’s class and his level. Oh, and he has a title. Wait. This is very mean. His class is Jerk. The system is saying mean things about him too. I don’t think I like this story.”

I looked over her shoulder, wondering how she got all of that from those little squiggles. I turned to Kalli.

What do you want to do? Should we sell it to the guild?

Kalli looked down at the book for a moment and spoke aloud, “You know what? I think I want to read this story before I sell it.”

The old lady nodded thoughtfully for a moment and increased the offer, “I suppose we can offer you 30 gold for the book. There are some who treasure stories told in the old way. Who knows, perhaps the author is famous.”

I helped Kalliphae by shrinking the book so she could put it back in her bag. I then opened mine up to retrieve the amulet. I gave it a quick look and decided that the safest bet would be to un-edit the artifact before presenting it to the wise old lady.

Item:

Unidentified Muck Covered Amulet

Components

Mythril, Emerald, Chryosantium, Mana, Mud

Item Rank:

C

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Murphy

As soon as I made the change, I felt the mud magically reappear in my hand. I pulled the now slimy pendant from the bag and dropped it on the table before the appraiser. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and said, “Usually, we require guild members to clean artifacts before presenting them, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt considering this item may be cursed.”

She snapped her fingers and a girl about my age ran in through a door that I hadn’t noticed. The girl took one look at the muddy amulet and turned to rummage through a desk at the far corner of the room. She returned with a basin with a silver solution in it.

The moment the amulet hit the solution, the liquid bubbled and turned brown. When she scooped the amulet back out it was shiny once again. The girl brought it back to the appraiser and quickly excused herself from the room.

The old woman delicately picked up the amulet and turned it over in her hands. She pulled a loupe from her pocket and examined the emerald closely, “Hmm. Peculiar. This is very interesting. Interesting indeed.”

I raised my hand, “It’s the heart of the ocean.”

She snickered at me, “Unfortunately, it is not. And that was a fictional diamond. This is a very real emerald. I’m afraid I am going to have to confiscate this artifact for further study. There is a chance that it may be cursed.”

I looked down at the amulet and watched the description change.

Item:

Amulet of Necropotence

Components

Mythril, Emerald, Chryosantium, Dark Mana

Item Rank:

B

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Murphy

Additional Effect: Turn Undead

I looked at the appraiser skeptically, “What is an Necropotence?”

She froze in the act of placing the amulet in a box, “Where did you hear that word?”

I sighed, “I can see the item’s description. I know you appraised it. It doesn’t say it's cursed. What are you keeping from me?”

Kalli and Shara shared a confused look then turned to look at me. Kalli asked. What is happening? Did you appraise the item?

No. I can just see its stats.

She prodded my mind with her questions. Is that like what you did with me the other day when you were giving me the treasure map?

Something like that.

Share interrupted. What treasure map?

I lied.

We turned it in to Vestara.

Kalliphae raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. The appraiser sighed and closed the lid on my amulet, “That amulet is a grade B restricted item. Its uses have been well cataloged. Normally, the owner of such an item would be brought up on charges, but in this case, it is apparent that you picked it up during an expedition. You will be awarded a bounty of 50 gold turning it in.”

I sighed.

At least we get some more money. I do wonder what turn undead does though.

Kalli stuck her tongue out at me. I’d rather not find out.

Once she discovered the restricted item, the appraiser’s demeanor changed. She quickly ushered us out of the appraisal room and back out to the main guildhall. Kalliphae looked back at me expectantly. Now what?

We could get more quests.

Shara pointed out. It is Sunday. We could do something fun.

What do you have in mind?

The kid bounced up and down as she rapid-fired thoughts into our minds. You two just woke up, right? That means that you probably haven’t seen anything. There are all sorts of neat places we could go. There's a magical theme park. I’m not talking about Disneyland. Then there’s the magical library. It’s huge. I could show you where they keep all of the spell books that do funny things like a magical timeout that turns you into a potted plant. I believe your scholar friend wants to go there. There's also the repository. That's the place where magical artifacts are kept.

The last option had me excited. I wondered.

Do you think the Amulet will end up in there?

Shara thought about it. Well, there is a restricted section, but it's, well, it’s restricted. I’ve never been in there, but I bet I could get in if I really wanted to.

I turned to Kalliphae.

What do you want to do?

Kalli shrugged at me. I don’t care what we do, but let's pick up some delivery quests on the way. We might as well.