Cerion and I stared at the guild leader nervously. He was tapping his fingers against his desk, deep in thought. When we had returned to Reito, we had done as planned and inquired about getting a tier 3 quest. Doran hadn't been willing to help us out, so we had needed to go to the guild leader with our request after all.

He hadn't seemed enthused by the idea, but was at least willing to entertain it. Eventually, he spoke.

"We don't have any good tier 3 quests that I could send you on with confidence, right now."

Cerion and I deflated.

"But, there is a quest that could satisfy your need for experience, though there won't be any monetary reward involved. That being said, this quest could either be less dangerous, or more dangerous for you two."

Cerion and I looked at one another and nodded. We didn't care about any monetary rewards in the first place. Over the past month, my fortune had grown to nearly two platinum, or 193 gold coins. A large part of that had come from the tsuchigumo quest, which had awarded us both 35 gold. That meant that I wouldn't need any source of income for at least several months, considering my current expenses. As for Cerion... well, I didn't think he would ever need a source of income. Because of that, we both agreed.

"That's fine, sir. We need the experience most of all, and we're not scared of a little danger. Why are you willing to send us on a quest that could be more dangerous, though? What do you mean by 'more or less dangerous' in the first place?"

"That's because I'm thinking of letting you participate in a 'low danger' tier 4 quest."

We both gasped, Cerion moving to protest a moment later.

"What?! Tier 4? I don't know if we're ready for that yet, sir!"

"Don't worry, the quest should only involve one tier 4 enemy, and the reason why there's no reward involved is that I was thinking of sending you two along with Emer and Cara on their own quest. The reason why I even considered it at all, is because you two are already somewhat involved in this case."

Already involved? That couldn't be good...

"So what is this quest about?" I asked.

"I think you would better read this for yourself." Andross replied.

Quest: Investigate the bandit compound.

Tier: 4

Danger level: Low

Recommended party size: 1-2

Location: Thalia hills

Suggested arrival time: Undetermined

Quest poster: Witch hunter guild master of Reito branch

Description: Bandits have been found to be involved in smuggling an illegal invasive species into Roa, causing the deaths of thousands of citizens and putting thousands more in danger. Other forces are speculated to be involved as well. Verify these allegations and find proof if true. Defeat the tier 4 bandit lord 'Kazach' and his lieutenants for a larger reward.

Reward: 5 platinum if involvement is verified, 2 platinum for each bit of evidence provided.

Bounty:

Bandit lord Kazach(tier 4): 2 platinum

Lieutenant Bor(Tier 3): 15 gold

Lieutenant Nareo(Tier 3): 13 gold

Lieutenant Ueron(Tier 3): 16 gold.

...

"As you can tell, this could become a very dangerous mission, if Kazach decides to target you two instead of Emer and Cara. That being said, Nareo is an early tier 3, which I believe either of you could defeat on your own. Ueron and Bor are dangerous, however. Stats of tier 3s range from 150 all the way to 900, meaning that a highly levelled tier 3 can be incredibly dangerous to both of you. Fighting two on one, you might be able to win. If you decided to take this quest, plan ahead carefully. I should also warn you that there will be many tier 2 and tier 1 bandits as well, so prepare yourselves."

Cerion looked a little hesitant, despite the level gain we stood to get from this quest. Humans gave just as much experience as monsters depending on their tier and level, after all.

"Can we...deliberate about this amongst ourselves for a while?"

"Of course. Take your time."

Cerion pulled me out of the office, into a nearby sitting room. We sat down on some comfortable couches and looked at one another. He looked very uncomfortable. Did he eat something wrong? Wanting to break the silence, I spoke up first.

"I think it's a great quest for us right now. It'll give great experience and we'll get some valuable experience fighting against other humans."

Cerion flinched at my words.

"Are you alright, man? Did you eat something wrong?"

"N -no, I'm fine. I just... I'm a little cold, is all."

"Oh, I get it. Now that summer is over, fall is starting to set in, after all. Anyway; if we want to hit level 50 in time for the tournament, then we'll have to take this quest. There's just no getting around it. Don't worry, Emer and Cara are super nice, they travelled with me to the coldwater palace. Remember the redhead?"

Cerion nodded.

"I do, yeah. As for the quest... let's do it. We simply don't have any other choice."

We entered the guild master's office again to notify him of our agreement. He signed us up for the quest.

"Emer and Cara will be back at the guild by this evening. Get your things in order and get enough provisions to last you at least two weeks. Bandits are notorious for being slippery, after all."

We nodded and did just that. Our provisions consisted of more alchemical pills and dried meat, berries and nuts. We would be able to hunt for some wild game when we had the time. We even bought some expensive health potions for Cerion, just in case he got seriously hurt, because he didn't have a healing skill. With that done, Cerion and I did some light sparring in the training yard.

Throughout our training, I noticed that Cerion was looking more and more troubled. Was this that pressure he was talking about? After a while, he took me to one side and asked me something.

"Arthur, have you... ever killed someone before?"

I frowned.

"I have, yeah. Multiple times, in fact. Why, did you want some advice?"

"Yes, actually. How do you kill another person?"

I hummed. I supposed the first person I killed was that necromancer, and the mercenaries afterward.

"Well, they're pretty much the same as monsters. You stab or slash them, and their guts spill out. They die pretty quickly after that. I think most of your attacks would work just as well against humans as monsters, so don't worry."

Cerion shook his head.

"No, I mean how do you deal with the idea that you killed another person?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, I've never killed someone before. The feeling that I get just thinking of the idea of doing something like that... Don't you get feelings like that?"

"Feelings? Well, I guess I felt pretty frustrated when I killed some mercenaries that attacked me. They tried to poison me and forced me to send Michael into the forest on his own! Even worse, because I was already level 25 at the time, they didn't even give me any experience! Bastards. They deserved worse. As for the necromancer, I guess I just felt relief when I killed him? That battle felt like it took forever."

At this point, Cerion just looked exasperated.

"No, I mean... You know what, forget about it."

He shook his head as he said that. Was the cold getting to him? Maybe he was stressing out about his father's expectations again. Yeah, that must have been it.

I put on a thick gambeson that I had bought earlier. Turns out that armour isn't so comfortable to wear without the necessary padding. I had bought both a gambeson and some chainmail so that I could wear my new set comfortably. Thankfully, neither were that heavy. Maybe they just didn't feel heavy because of my physical stats.

With my armour equiped and my sword hanging from my hip, I went downstairs. I found Emer, Cara and Cerion near the tavern.

Emer smiled when he saw me approach and spoke up.

"So you two laddies will be acompanying us then? Well, A' look forward to workin' wit ya."

Cara chimed in on Emer's introduction.

"I do as well."

Cerion put on a bright smile and walked up to introduce himself.

"Hi, my name is Cerion! I am Arthur's partner, we've been questing for about a month now."

I walked up beside him.

"We've already been introduced, so I won't bore you with a repeat. It's nice to work with you two again."

Emer laughed.

"Well, thas' nice of ya! Anyway, 'ave you two done yer preparations for this quest? Me an Cara are rarin' to go!"

With a polite smile, Cerion nodded in affirmative.

"We have, sir. We're ready to go at any time."

A few minutes later we were leaving the city. As we passed the city gates, Emer walked up to me and started whispering.

"Andross 'as informed us o' yer situation, so feel free to use yer mount an' mana."

I nodded in thanks. I thought they had known about it from when they escorted me to the Coldwater palace, but I supposed he just wanted to remind me.

The party summoned their mounts when we were a small distance away from the city. I joined Cerion on Alia for a while, because I wanted to wait until nightfall before I summoned Revan, just in case.

After a few hours of travel, I felt comfortable enough to summon him anyway. Like that, we travelled for a few more hours, until the sun disappeared beneath the horizon.

We set up a simple camp with a few tents and logs around a campfire, which Emer kept active with his fire magic. Cara set up a barrier around the site that would keep intruders out and dissipate the wind that passed through it. The wonders of magic sure made life on the road convenient, huh.

As we sat around the campfire, Cerion asked Emer and Cara the same question he had asked me.

"So, I asked Arthur this before, but I was wondering how you guys dealt with the first time you killed another person? I -I'm a little intimidated by the idea, is all."

Emer hummed.

"Well..., me' first kill certainly wasn't pleasant. A thug was harrassin' me motha', to the point that I was getting scared he would do sometin' to 'er. One time, I found 'im smackin' me mom 'round. I was a kid, still, so I did what A could. I pulled 'is own dagga' from its sheath and stabbed 'im in the back 'fore he could react. He died soon afta'. I puked my guts out, o' course. Spent a few nights cryin', and, eventually, a' pulled myself together again. You learn to live with yer choices, Cerion. That's how I felt, at least."

Cerion turned pensive at his story. It seemed that the sight of his mother getting beaten had affected Emer quite badly. I could understand. If a thug did that to my mother, I would feel like shit, too. Cara spoke up next.

"I killed a party member that I had entered a dungeon with, after he tried to kill me to take my items. My reaction wasn't dissimilar to Emer's. You get used to it, after a while."

She had puked, too? Could she not stand the sight of blood or something? Poor Cara. At least she had grown accustomed to it. Emer turned to me.

"What bout you, Arthur?"

I told them the same story that I had told Cerion earlier in the day. They seemed to sympathise with my frustrations. Both battles had been rather difficult, after all, though the tsuchigumo brood mother had been much stronger. After a moment of silence, Emer spoke up.

"Well, I guess it's good that ya' didn't have a hard time dealin' with ya' first kill. I suppose that's a positive of yer affinity. I still see that bastard's face in my dreams sometimes. Yer lucky."

I didn't really understand what he was talking about. Why would you see a dead man in your dreams? Was he being haunted? Did my affinity keep ghosts away? That would be rather lucky, wouldn't it? Cerion and Cara didn't seem so sure, however. Something about the way Cerion behaved told me I was missing something.

We changed topics and talked some more until we headed to bed.

I had a dreamless sleep.