“What’s taking so long?” Valeriana's irritation echoed through the cave.

“I’m almost done. Only five left.” I replied.

Butchering the rats was pointless since the meat was riddled with all kinds of diseases, completely inedible; however, the tails had to be collected; a tangible proof for the extermination and essentially completing the quest.

The mysterious guest was indeed Valeriana. She came in and stared at the carnage, and ever since, she hasn't done much besides whining. I have been ignoring her so far, but with the adrenaline starting to wear off and finally being able to think more clearly, I was wondering how she got here this fast.

So, deciding on engaging with her, I asked. “How did you find me anyway?”

“The guild.” Crossing her arms, she continued. “And you didn’t wait for me.”

“I didn’t know you were coming.” I threw another tail onto the pile. “You told me to accept a quest, yesterday and that was it. I couldn’t find you in the morning either.”

“I was training.”

I shrugged in response.

“These little bastards are clever. They had a few tunnels set up as decoys.” I paused for a second. “How did you know which one to follow?”

Her brows furrowed. “I just did?” Shrugging, she continued. “I thought about finding you, and I knew where to go.”

“I see.”

Another feature of the lovely seal, I bet.

Done with amputating the dead rodents, I was struck with a sudden revelation. I forgot to bring something to carry this in. It completely escaped my mind. If push comes to shove, I’ll have to huddle the pile.

As a last-ditch attempt, I turned to Valeriana. “You wouldn’t happen to be carrying a bag, would you?”

“I do, actually.” She tapped the side of her thigh. “But it’s for the rabbits.”

I blinked. “Rabbits?”

“Horned rabbits? It’s the one you refused.”

“You’re doing the rabbits’ quest?”

“No, we are doing the rabbits’ quest.” She replied with a grin on her face.

Oh god. I could feel the headache coming back, though this time; it wasn’t the manapool exertion. My hand went straight for my forehead, hoping to rub the frustration out, but I caught myself. The last thing I needed right now was more blood on my face.

Releasing a sigh, I sat down next to the pile. The shop’s inventory was my resort, especially since we were very likely going on another quest.

Touching the pile, I stated my intentions of selling it, and almost instantly, I felt my mana slowly dissipating as the first tail started to disintegrate. The whole pile shouldn’t take long, only a couple of minutes.

Hearing some shuffling, I glanced at Valeriana. She was frozen in place with her hand on the pommel of her sword.

Did something sneak up on us?

Harnessing every bit of willpower I had not to move a muscle, I whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“What did you do?” Her voice was slightly strained.

“What?” I answered, confused.

“What did you do just now?” She hissed.

“I stored it.” I answered honestly, the seal already pressing its influence.

She frowned at me, confused, but said nothing. I took the opportunity to sense the area around us and thankfully found nothing. I relaxed my shoulders as I slumped down on the floor. My heart was threatening to jump out of my chest. This is way too much for my first day.

“How did you do that?“ Valeriana asked.

“Storing them?” She nodded. “I’m selling them on the shop, but until I set a price, they are sort of there? I don’t really know how it works.”

“B-but how?” Her hand tightened around her sword. “Are you part of the mages’ guild?”

“No.”

She narrowed her eyes at me and asked. “Were you a part of them?”

“Other than joining the adventure’s guild two days ago, I am not and have never been a part of any other guild.”

“So… you made mana potions, and you can sell them yourself, without being part of either guilds.” Her tone couldn’t be any more sarcastic.

“You’re the one who told me to sell them in the first.” I remarked.

“Yeah!” She threw her arms in frustration. “But not do it yourself.”

I gave her a questioning look. The only requirement for selling an item is mana to transport it, meaning that almost every single mage should be able to do it.

“How do you not know this?” She took a seat on a large rock nearby. “It’s the mage’s guild most heavily guarded secret. The only way to sell something is through them.”

“Couldn’t any mage do that?” I asked, doubting her statement.

“No, only certain mages can do it, and they are taught and certified by the guild. So, how can you-” She pointed at me. “-do it?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I answered. “It’s easier than you think. I ‘open’ the shop, choose whatever I want to sell, and make direct contact with it. The only requirement is the mana since, I believe, it powers the transportation.”

“That’s it?” She replied, surprisingly disappointed.

“Pretty much.” I said, continuing the process, her eyes glued to my hands.

“But how can you access the shop while you’re awake.”

“Have you tried?”

“Yes, when I was five.” Rolling her eyes at me. “And it didn’t work.”

“I did too, and it was the same for me as well. So, I bought something from the shop that allowed me to access it whenever I wanted.”

Nothing more was said afterward. She opted to stay silent, watching me with open fascination as I transported the items. I don’t blame her, honestly. If I were in her position, I would have already gotten rid of myself, or at the very least shackled me as much as possible. The threat of angering two major guilds is simply too great to ignore. I’ll have to be even more careful now.

Leaving the cave, I went to grab my spear and amputated the rodent impaled by it. The one near the cave entrance was too pulverized to bother with.

The quest was more or less over. It felt good to get something done. My body, however, did not. Fortunately, the armor absorbed most of the damage. I had no serious injuries, but my sleeves were torn, and my arms were covered in scratches, which required cleaning and proper patching up. Hence, my last-ditch attempt at ending the day here.

“Our first quest is officially complete. How about we call it a-“

“No. We’re going.” She stubbornly refused.

Whatever reply I had died down as she was already walking away. Sighing, I threw my spear above my shoulder and followed. Arguing any further was pointless. My current footing was not that of an equal, not even a subordinate.

“How many do we need to kill?” I asked.

She fished out the quest paper and handed it over to me. There was no specified limit to the number we could hunt, but in order to complete the quest, we had to provide at least four horns, two for each party member.

Confirming we were on the right track was not very challenging. The hunting ground for the rabbits was the Lamassu forest, a name that sounded oddly familiar. It was the very same forest where the elves, and supposedly me, were trespassing.

It stretched long enough to form a natural border around the whole southern part of the content, with the city I am currently in the closest to it.

Folding the map and stuffing it into my pocket, I thought about the scuffle I had earlier in the cave. Things would have been much easier if I had help, but it could have also gone a lot worse. If we were both together in that cavern, miscommunication would have caused much more harm than the little monster could ever do.

Glancing at her, I spoke. “Hey, Val.” The nickname eliciting a small growl. “What’s your home like?”

She looked at me sideways. “Why are you asking?”

“Genuine curiosity. And I also want to know more about you. We’re supposed to be fighting together soon, and I know nothing about you aside from your mother’s occupation.”

She stayed silent for a few seconds but spoke afterward. “It’s nice.” She paused for a second. “It’s a lot colder than here. I was always with my sister.” A reminiscent smile spread across her face. “We did everything together. We played together, trained together, and sparred together. We used to spar barefoot on the snow, see who would last longer.”

She paused to wipe her face; however, she did not continue.

“That sounds nice.” I commented, encouraging her, but to no avail.

Her face had gone impassive again as an oppressive silence enveloped us.

Ah, I messed up.

“You know, I used to do that same with my brother.” She eyed me curiously. “No training or snow, though. We didn’t have much growing up, so our neighborhood wasn’t exactly safe. We would spend most of the day at home with our mother.”

“Really?”

I looked up. “Yeah. Everything was much simpler back then.”

She opened her mouth to say something but decided otherwise, instead settled for saying. “Yeah, it was.”

We elapsed into silence again; however, this time, it was much more comfortable.

The road was getting thinner and thinner. Greenery stretched around us as we got closer to the forest, and standing slightly uphill, I couldn’t see anything besides shades of green up the horizon.

There was a small wooden hut beside the road, and standing beneath it was someone with a deep frown imprinted on his face. He had the same as most people I have seen so far; feline ears and tail, nothing particularly remarkable about to note.

His eyes went to Valeriana first and lingered longer than necessary. Glancing at Valeriana, I expected to find repulsion or disgust but couldn’t find either; instead, it was the same blank look she always wore.

However, that didn’t last long. As soon as a suggestive smirk appeared on his face, all hell broke loose. I flinched at the intense anger she started spewing. Not sure if he felt her ire or simply caught my movement, but his head turned to me.

And this time, I didn’t have trouble finding disgust, as it was clearly written on his face, his frown even deeper than before. He almost spat something out but stopped as his eyes traveled to the pendant on my chest.

“A human adventurer? Here?” he looked back to Valeriana and snarled. “Is this a joke?”

She was almost growling now, with a hand on her sword and her knees slightly bent. If this went any further, someone was going to end up dead.

Taking a step forward, I looked him in the eye and said. “We have a quest to finish. Do you need something?”

He locked eyes with Valeriana for a few more seconds before scoffing and taking out a familiar-looking glass shard. I offered him the pendant, which he accepted, treating it with unexpected care.

And with its authenticity confirmed, he hesitated, contemplating whether to break it or not, but ultimately decided not to.

Stepping out of the road, he went back to his chair and grabbed a jug nearby. Chugging it down, he let a series of curses. I only caught a ‘Fucking humans’ and a ‘Fucking guild’.

Stepping into the forest, I walked a few steps behind Valeriana. Her anger was suffocating.