Zortex headed to the center of the city and looked for the address written on the note for the mission he was going to undertake. Apparently the lady was quite rich because she was staying in a fancy neighborhood. He looked around for 10 minutes until he found the right house, then he was almost knocking on the door before he stopped himself. Zortex was still wearing the cape he had picked up from the skeleton, while he had put the stolen sword in his storage pouch. Just to be sure he decided to hide also the mantle and ring to not show any connection with the mission. Before knocking he stopped himself once again: he could see his reflection on one of the windows close to the entrance. His face was covered by his Shadow Mask, giving him quite the grim look. He was conflicted on how to proceed, as the only other alternative he had was to dispel the skill and wear even more bandages around his face. He would not bet that his appearance would improve much in that case, so he continued the way he was at that moment. Now that he was ready he ringed the bell…knocking looked too low class considering the high society people living in such fancy houses.

The door opened and he found himself facing a young lady attendant, wearing a black dress with a white apron on the front. Zortex first thought was that she was stunningly beautiful, with her dark black hair and light green eyes. The face was perfectly symmetric and lightly tanned, with a warming smile and full lips. Of course when she looked at him her smile went away instantaneously, replaced with a frightened expression. She was about to slam the door when Zortex took out the note with mission written on it and on the other hand he held the badge of a mercenary. He thought that would be enough to stop her and to be welcomed inside, but she still closed and bolted the door from inside. Zortex left out a sigh: people in AoL were used to all kinds of weird things, but he was still leaving an impression to those passing by him. The Shadow Mask, the bandages and the dark clothes were covering all his appearance, which could give the wrong idea that he was a criminal hiding from the law. By now he was familiar with people raising their guard and avoid getting close to him. Unfortunately this was also getting in the way of interacting with NPC and getting things done.

Zortex ringed the bell once again, and again and again. People were looking at him and after five minutes a couple of city guards arrived to confront him. He had to explain the situation to them and after hearing his explanation they ringed the bell for him and called the people inside to assure them that there was no danger. Obviously he had to lie about the reason he had to keep the Shadow Mask on, but they bought his excuses. Zortex heard the metal clicking sounds of the door unlocking and an old guy faced him while holding a sword. He was dejected that the beautiful maid was not there, but it was understandable. The man’s hairs where white and his body looked frail, but his eyes were determined while facing him. The steward looked at the guards and listened to their explanations, finally relaxing at the end of the talking.

“Good morning Sir, my Name is Gom and I am the steward of this house. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, but I think you can get why the maid was scared of you. If you please, you can enter the building. I will call the Lady Inevera and you will meet her in the living room”

Zortex followed the man and sat down in a comfortable chair. He looked around the room noticing all the paintings and other artistic items displayed on the walls and stands. He cared nothing for the art, but he committed to memory what he was seeing. It could become useful if he ever intended to start robbing again. The security seemed quite lax, and unless they had magic protection he could get in and rob quite easily. Two minutes passed by and finally an old lady walked into the hall, this time with the stunningly beautiful maid following her. Zortex sneaked a few looks to the maid while trying to maintain eye contact with the approaching Inevera.

“Damn the Gods! I have been waiting for months for someone to pick up this mission. Why the hell was it so difficult to find one of you leeches for such a simple job?”

Zortex was quite surprised by the old lady way of speaking; he expected a refined and noble talk, not something so vulgar. She certainly improved his first impression of his commissioner. He then decided to respond in the same style.

“I have no fucking idea. I just started today and I thought it was such an easy request that I was appalled no one took it before me”

“Watch your language young man. You are in front of nobility and you should pay respect to those superior than you”

What a bitch! Superior my ass! Just wait that I level up a bit more and I will raze this building to the ground. No. Even before that, I will come and steal whatever worthy you have in this house. Expect a visit in the next few days, Bitch!

“I ask your forgiveness my Lady. I just came back from the slums and I still have the local slur in my mouth. I will not repeat such a mistake” Bitch!

“Better for you, or I will kick you out of the house and make sure you will never again access this noble part of the city. Now…back to business. I have issued that job because a friend of mine just passed away and she asked a last favor before she died. I knew that I shouldn’t have gone to meet her, but she screwed me even on her last moments of life. Anyway, she made me promise that I will solve an old issue she had when she was still young. Apparently the man she loved was in the business of some dark magic or whatever. Some day he just disappeared and she never knew what happened to him. Somehow, recently she obtained some information on his whereabouts, but she didn’t have the courage to check by herself what really happened, considering her health was deteriorating. Now I want you to look into it, and bring me proof you have met him, alive or dead. His name is Count William McCanter”

Quest

Find what happened to the Count William McCanter. Bring back proof you met him or someone who knows where he is.

Reward

50 silvers coins. Countess Inevera opinion of you will increase and may lead to new missions

Accept mission? Y/N

“My Lady, I will accept this mission”

Quest accepted

“Good. I will give you the clues found by my friend. The Count and his circle of Dark Mages where about to do some nasty things, so they were hiding in the sewers, but they were then found by the city security and most of them killed. The Count was able to escape and then he disappeared without meeting my friend ever again. In the corpse of the leader of that gang there were many items and one of them was a key. At the time nobody cared about it, but recently my friend obtained it and she believed that it could lead to one of their hideout. I give this to you, hopefully it would be of help”

Quest item

Iron key. Unknown use.

And there it is. That stupid key for that fucking door. Just as I predicted. Time to leave behind all those damned memories.

“Thank you Countess. I will be back soon with the information you need”

“Puah. A little kid like you will probably take a month before getting tired and renouncing the quest. Now go. I’m tired of this conversation”

Bitch! I’m curious to see your face when I will be back in a few hours. Or when I will rob you.

Zortex left the house and went to take a walk to relax. He had already the ring, and if it was not enough he also had the sword. Probably the old Lady already knew what to expect to grant the mission to be completed. Still he wanted to wait half a day before going back, since it wouldn’t be believable for him to have finished in just a couple of hours. He decided to go eat in a restaurant for a change, considering that he was usually cooking his own meals. The last months he hadn’t lost his appetite, and food came and went in large quantities. He had discerned his favorite dishes and stockpiled the ingredients in his storage pouch. He accumulated most of all he wanted to be able to prepare delicious meals for when he would go out of the city. He hadn’t forgot about Pravin, his best friend who he hadn’t seen since he came out of the sewers. He had promised to make him taste a lot of different foods. Zortex felt guilty about leaving him aside, but it would create a lot of trouble for him to bring him around the city. That’s also one of the reasons he was set to get out and explore a bit of the world. Zortex, or Shad as he was calling himself, would summon Pravin again and travel around together. He was ecstatic to once again have someone to talk to….the last few months had been quite lonely.