By late afternoon, I was done with Runesmithing Kira’s equipment, a set of kettles. I had also harvested my thirteen plots plus Mia’ eighteen plots, as well as used Lesser Transmutation to get as many seeds back as possible. With the food and tea I had made for lunch, I had gained a lot of XP. For Brewing I had gained enough XP to level up once more, from level 19 to 20, so it was now my third skill at Apprentice tier.

It was too early to start on the order for the Squirrel Knights, so I figured I could waste some time doing something else. It was then that it occurred to me, I did not really have anything else planned for the day. Sure I could make more manastones or something like that, but I had enough to suit my needs for the moment.

Thinking about what I should choose to do, it suddenly struck me that I had never started on any of the non-combat quests available. I was seriously lacking behind in that regard, I had not done any quests since the Starter Quests unless you count the major quest for the Butcher and the people in the poor district.

The Adventurers’ Associations would have generic quests for me. I guess that could do in pinch, but it would be better if I could find quests from some private citizens. They usually gave better rewards. I thought it over and decided to first visit Old Millie. She belonged to the Rich faction of the town and I was still only Accepted by them, however, because my overall reputation with the town was Close Friend, it would elevate her disposition towards me to Liked. Meaning that she might have a quest or two for me. I could vaguely remember some quests associated with her, but specifics eluded me.

The next on the list was the Senechal for the Lord. The Lord considered me a Friend, and though he was not on the island but at court on the mainland, his Senechal would be able to give me a quest or two. I hoped.

The third option I had for some quests were the Guards, though I did not have any high hopes in that regard. They mostly had extermination quests for the players, but you never knew there might be a thing or two I could help them with.

I made my way to Old Millie first, I stopped a single step inside her garden. Her garden looked like it had a month ago in-game. Luckily I did not need to buy the expensive snowdrop flowers or snowberries from her anymore. On the other hand, our parties had not really needed them on their dives through the dungeon, being higher levelled and having diversified their skills. So I had not made a lot of them, but since other players were starting to go there, it might be something extra we could sell. And it was something the Dusts had not tried to compete with me on yet.

The wait time before she deigned to notice me was almost fifteen minutes. Which I spent patiently spamming Observation and Message when I noticed some of our new guild members passing by. Both were spells I had been neglecting way too much. So any little bit would help.

“Well, stop gawking out there and come in,” Old Millie’s voice finally drifted out from somewhere in the garden.

“Thank you, Ma’am,” I called back politely and stepped into the garden. A few people in my old timeline had tried to harvest her garden, and they had found themselves at the end of a giant ass-whooping. Old Millie’s control over plants was significant. Not to talk about the punishment the Lord had passed down when he heard about someone messing with his Aunt.

“Back for more snowdrops, young man?” she asked as she came around the side of her little shack.

“No, but thanks for asking. I was wondering if you had something you needed help with?” I asked politely.

She looked me up and down for a moment, then got a faraway look in her eyes. I knew she was checking my status, what skills and so on I had. All NPCs, or Locals as most referred to them, had access to that information, so they could gauge if we were able to complete their quests.

“You’re not much of a fighter, so getting some Bloodhawk eggs would be too much to ask,” she mumbled before nodding to herself. “Well, you’ve Cooking, so I would like a unique meal.”

“Excuse me?” I asked dumbfounded.

“You heard me, I want a meal that I’ve never tried before. I hear that you Travelers have all kinds of wonderous food in your own world,” she said and a prompt appeared in front of me.

Quest Offered

Type: Chain

A New Taste Experience I

‘Old Millie’ has heard rumours of the wonderous food from your world. She would like to taste them. Prepare her something she has never tried before.

Reward

Variable

Penalty for Failure

-50 reputation points with ‘Old Millie’

-50 reputation points with the Lord of Blackport

Do you wish to accept this Quest?

Yes/No

‘Accept,’ I thought absentmindedly, already trying to decide what to make for her.

“Well, I look forward to being invited for a meal at some point,” she said and turned around to leave.

“Wait,” I quickly said. “I overheard you say something about Bloodhawk eggs. I might not be able to do it, but my guild should be more than capable.”

“Maybe some other time,” she said and turned back to gardening. I had clearly been dismissed. Clearly I would need more reputation with her before my word was good enough to trigger quests for others.

I made my way towards the guards’ headquarters next, not because I had high hopes regarding quests from them, but because they were on the way from Old Millie’s garden to the Lord’s Manor.

A lot of new players were training at the guards’ training ground. None of my members were there since we preferred to train at the Imperial soldiers’ training ground. Despite it being available only early in the mornings, the fact that you could impress the commander of the imperial soldiers and gain access to other classes was a big bonus. Not that these classes were necessarily better, they were just more specialized. So in the circumstances, it was built for, it was better than the generic classes, while the generic classes were all-around classes.

I skirted the outside of the training grounds and made my way over to the barracks, where a door was guarded by two guards. They looked at me with narrowed eyes as I approached, before relaxing their posture. They had clearly checked my status to see who I was. One of them greeted me in a friendly enough voice, “Well met, what can we help you with?”

“I was wondering if your commander or quartermaster might have a moment?” I asked.

“What’s it about?” the other asked.

“I was hoping that I might be of some assistance to you,” I said. No reason to mince words, I was fishing for quests.

“Well, the commander got some quests that need doing, but you’re ill-equipped to handle them. Don’t know about the quartermaster,” the first guard said.

“Doesn’t hurt to ask,” the other guard prompted the first.

“You’re right. Step right through,” the first guard said and opened the door for me. “First turn on your left, then the stairs down and you’ll find him somewhere down there.”

“Thanks,” I replied and stepped through the open door. Like most structures on the island, it was made from wood, so I found myself in a wooden corridor with a few glowlamps in place. That was another rune or two I would like to learn there. I remembered from my previous timeline someone had made flash grenades by accident while trying to make glowing stones. However, that was for another time.

Downstairs was one large storage area, with shelves, crates, barrels, and sacks all over the place. It looked like a disorganized mess, however, the quartermaster probably had a system. Probably.

It took me five minutes finding him in the enormous storage area, which I realized must stretch beneath the training grounds as well. The man looked like a slightly younger version of Fillard, bald and very heavyset.

“Excuse me,” I called out.

“What the fuck do you want?” he grumbled without turning around. He was busy looking at a stack of papers in his hands.

I started answering him, “My name is Damian, I’m the leader of the Blue Lotus guild, I was hoping—”

“You want some quests, just like all these other whining Travelers. Gods, you’re so annoying,” the man interrupted me with a sigh and turned around to look at me. “Well, you got two skills we can use. Produce some potions and some jerky, we can always use a local supplier more.”

Two quest windows popped up, but I dismissed one of them immediately. I was not able to produce the quality of potions he wanted. I thought about the other for a moment.

Quest Offered

Type: Repeatable

Jerky for a Jerk

The irate quartermaster of the Blackport Guards is looking for a supply of snacks for the guards. Delivery to be made within a week.

Requirements

Must be made from Average quality or higher

Successes or higher

All Crafting Points allocated to Healing Wounds, any remaining to reduce Satiety Filled

Minimum of 4 days until expiration

Minimum of 50 pouches

Reward

3 silvers per pouch of jerky

5 reputation with Blackport Guards for every 10 pouches delivered

2 free XP per pouch

Penalty for Failure

-10 reputation points with Blackport Guards per pouch short of the minimum

Do you wish to accept this Quest?

Yes/No

It was a lot of jerky but should be doable with my Cooking skill at level 29, and I was always getting Average quality meat or better when butchering. However, if I was to make the jerky I would need salt. Which I would have to buy, and if I needed to buy it at Average quality, it would end up costing me around forty to forty-five coppers.

Including the value of the average meat which was four copper plus two copper for the cloth pouches and the firewood for smoking. Well, it would leave me breaking even at best, though I could use another template for Flawed, Exceptional, and Brilliant Successes and sell those to the player population and recoup some of the losses.

The reputation and free XP were nice bonuses, and it was something I could create a lot of at the same time while doing other things as well. I would need Phil to build a smoker or smokehouse though. In the end, I accepted the quest even if it would end up being an expense, but for once focusing on my own development instead of the development of the guild felt good.

“Well, you got your quest, now fuck off and stop bothering me,” the quartermaster harrumphed and turned back to his papers. Clearly dismissed, I left and made my way towards the Lord’s mansion.

When I got to the mansion I was told by the guard to wait because the Seneschal was with another petitioner, so I sat down to wait. The wait turned out to be almost thirty minutes, and I got a nasty surprise when I saw who the other petitioner was when he left, Almighty Al.

His avatar was a tall muscular blond greek god, or so had his avatar been described. Like many other players, he had chosen to sculpt an idealized version of himself. Nothing wrong with that, it just led to complications when you logged out into your normal body if the disparity between the two was too large. It was one of the reasons why I chose to have all my players use their real body. He was wearing a metal breastplate with a large sword on his back.

“Ah, Damien, the illustrious leader of the Dead Lotus,” he said with a big smile that looked fake and a nasty glint in his eyes. “Oh my apologies, I mean Blue Lotus. It’s so hard to remember the name of inconsequential guilds. I hope all is well?”

“Al, I don’t see the point of trying to be civil, since you’ve been hunting my members for the past few weeks,” I replied with a shrug. “And if we were so inconsequential, you would not go out of your way trying to provoke me.”

His most likely fake smile turned into a scowl. “Fine, I’m happy to announce we just bought a guild residence, enabling me to do this.”

For some reason, he used hand motions to interact with the system menus. I mean his movement had an aggressive feel to them, so I was not sure if he meant to intimidate me or not. I already had a good idea of what he was going to do, so the prompt that popped up in front of me came as no surprise.

Declaration of War

Almighty Al’s Assembly of Adventurers has declared war on your guild. Any attacks on members from guilds you are at war with carries no penalties unless you attack inside towns and other protected locations.

Your Allies

None

Their Allies

Dawnguard

Silver Dawn

Team Asura

The A-Team

Silvermoon

Doom Jesters

The Highlander Gang

I faked a yawn as I dismissed the prompt. I did get a bit surprised by the fact that Dawnguard would officially back what so far had been a covert operation. However, thinking about it for a second, it made sense. If Dawnguad declared war on Blue Lotus the optics would look bad, however, if one of their minor allies did and they got dragged into the fight, it was something else entirely. The only question was if their alliance came with any physical support.

“Sorry, did something happen?” I asked. “I think I dozed off for a second there.”

“I’m going to kill you over and over again,” he threatened loudly. The guard standing nearby coughed loudly, making us both look at him. He drew his sword halfway out of the scabbard, his implication all too clear.

Al glowered at the guard for a second, before turning back to me. “If I catch you outside the walls, you’re a dead man.”

I just faked another yawn, looking him in the eyes. It did not help his temper, but the guard out levelled him, so he chose the wiser decision and stormed out of the mansion.

After another five minutes of waiting, the Seneschal came out to the waiting hall and greeted me, “Hello Mister Heosphoros, come this way please.”

He led me into his office. He gestured towards a chair in front of the desk, while he walked around to sit behind it. “So what can I help you with today? Not looking for a refund on the village token?”

“Not at all,” I said immediately and took the offered seat.

“Good, I was beginning to worry since it had been a month since you bought it, yet you have not established a village yet.”

I bowed my head in acknowledgement of the implied criticism. “I understand. We bought it well before we were ready, we’re making strides towards it, but right now we’re focusing on expanding the guild. We just got twenty-five new members.”

“Oh, effectively doubling your numbers, right?” he asked with a pleasant smile.

“Actually, a bit more than doubling it,” I pointed out. “And we expect to grow to over one hundred members within the next two months.”

His smile turned a bit bigger, seeming more genuine. “That’s great news. If all of them are of the same calibre as the ones already in your guild, it’ll be a boon for Blackport. We’ve had a bit of trouble with many of the newcomers and some of the older travellers, unfortunately.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. If the Blue Lotus can be of any assistance just say the word.”

“That’s a kind offer,” he said, inclining his head respectfully. “Now, not to be blunt or rude, but I do have a lot on my plate today. So back to my original question, what can I help you with today?”

“I was actually hoping that I could help you,” I said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

He cocked his head in confusion for a moment, before his eyes lit up in understanding. “Oh, you’re looking for quests. Well, you’re certainly more polite than some of the other travellers coming in and demanding I give them quests.”

I cringed at that. “I apologize for the stupidity of my fellow travellers.”

He waved the apology away and got a faraway look, indicating he was looking over my skills. After a moment his face transformed into a small frown. “I’m sorry Mister Heosphoros, none of the quests we have at the moment are fitting for your skills.”

“That’s quite alright, it was just a thought,” I said with a shrug and was about to stand up.

“Wait,” he quickly said. “Your skills might not be what we need. However, your reputation and that of Blue Lotus does mean we have a very important quest that you can help us with.”

Quest Offered

Type: Guild Expedition

Ancestral Roots

When Lord Blackwindroot’s forefathers founded the town that would later become Blackport, they created a glade in honour of their heritage.

They laid down powerful runes to confuse and misdirect anyone getting close to the glade.

In the middle of the glade, they planted a Black Windroot sapling, one of only a few to survive the First Rupture.

Since the Second Rupture, the Lord has not dared send men to the glade, because it’s a fair distance inland where high-level creatures reside.

You’re tasked to gather an expedition and receive a Black Windroot sapling from the glade.

Recommended Expedition Size: 20 members

Personal Reward

100 reputation points with the Lord of Blackport

10 platinum coins

50,000 free XP

500 Guild Points

1 Upgrade Point

1 Spriggan essence crystals

Reward Pool for Recruited Members

500 reputation points with the Lord of Blackport

100 platinum coins

500,000 free XP

2000 Guild Points

20 upgrade points

60 Spriggan essence shards

Personal Penalty for Failure

-1000 reputation points with the Lord of Blackport

Do you wish to accept this Quest?

Yes/No

I was floored when I saw the quest offered to me. It was one of the better quests available in Blackport. In my previous timeline, it had not been offered to anyone for a few months yet. It made sense, however, since I had probably gotten a lot more reputation this early than Almighty Al ever got. And he had been the big honcho around Blackport until the end of February when the Old Continent was devastated by the invasion.

We would be a bit under levelled, with the final boss mob of the quest being at around level 45. Ed was only level 35. Nevertheless, I knew a few tricks to deal with the boss that should make it doable, and since the rewards were meant for higher levels, they were really attractive for us. When the quest was over the glade would lose its magical protection, and the boss would revive once a week, as a static field boss.

I mentally pressed “Yes” and I saw a smile spread on the Seneschal’s face. I quickly said, “I would be honoured to help the Lord with this quest.”

“Splendid. I have two items for you. One is a one-time pass to get through the wards around the glade. The other is a map,” he said and pulled the two items out of his personal inventory. I accepted both.

“Thank you. I’ll need a few days to prepare, but when we leave, we’ll leave behind some of our members. If you have need of the Blue Lotus’ help, you can contact Sensei Kira,” I said.

He nodded. “Thanks. She’s known to us, the priests at the temple speak highly of her. So do the guards, they like it when troublemakers are brought to justice.”

I flashed him a grin. “So do we.”

“I just hope your guild war with Almighty Al’s Assembly of Adventurers doesn’t spill into the streets of Blackport,” he said with a frown.

“If it does, it’ll be them who instigates the trouble. I’ll order my members to refrain from disturbing the peace,” I said as I stood up. “Unless it’s Kira bringing travellers to justice.”

“Good to hear,” he said and led me over to the door. “Have a splendid evening.”

“Thank you. You too,” I replied and left the mansion a very happy man. The personal quest I had gotten would be an okay personal boost, but the expedition quest would be even better for the guild. It would take us closer to the point, where we could handle the monsters in the area I wanted to establish the village.

There was a lot to do to prepare the guild for the quest though, it would probably take most of a week in-game before we were ready to head out. So many things to do and get, potions to craft and much more. It was time to get serious about Alchemy as well as Runesmithing.