Alleyn stepped out of the building addon housing his well and thought about his next course of action, only to come to the realisation that he still had no idea what to do. He somehow had to make do with the current System functions available to him until the voice somehow managed to restore the rest, something Alleyn wasn’t willing to wait for as neither he nor the voice had any idea when that would happen; for all he knew, he could die of old age before the voice managed to restore even a single System function.

Realising that he still had to take the initiative, he thought about the options available to him; he could try to gain more Skills, something the voice had confirmed was indeed possible, but what useful Skills could he develop in his current situation? He had no weapons to train with, not that that he believed he could actually develop any proficiency at using a weapon without having someone teach him. He couldn’t become a Mage, either, as the mandatory affinity test he went through had informed him that he was unsuited for such things, something his Status had now confirmed too. Even if he did have an affinity for magic, however, he would’ve run into the same hurdle of once again having no one to teach him; while he at the very least knew how to flail his arms around, he had no clue where he would even start on the path to becoming a proficient Mage.

Alleyn felt frustration rise inside him once again as his mind came back to reality and realised that the ‘advantage’ of having this voice, System, and Status available to him gave him no actual edge, at least not immediately. Knowing exactly what Skills he had available to him would undoubtedly prove useful in the future but, at the present moment, it did nothing but clear up a couple of questions he didn’t even have until just recently.

Feeling a sense of hopelessness wash over him, Alleyn sat back on the same chair he had when the voice had first arrived and, as if the chair itself was the catalyst for whatever was happening, a new line came into existence, in the exact same way the first one had, before it split in two as words appeared between the two halves...

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[Quest received: Fate’s Guidance]

Objective: Reclaim at least one Traveller’s Pendant from the Overseer (0/1).

Rewards: 1x[Unique Skill], Title: [Fate’s Chosen], Restoration of System’s Quest function.

Failure Condition(s): Death, the disappearance of the targeted Traveller’s Pendants.

Penalty: Possible restoration of the System’s Quest function will be removed.

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The sudden appearance of another, yet very different, pane came as a surprise, one he welcomed greatly after reading through it. While the fact that he could understand the words in the first place did confuse him, his focus quickly changed to something more peculiar: the ‘reclaim’ part of the objective. The wording seemed peculiar as, while he had no idea what a ‘Traveller’s Pendant’ was, he did know what a pendant was and he was sure he’d never owned one, much less lost one.

The idea that it was the Overseer, a man Alleyn had never interacted with, supposedly had a pendant that he once had only served to further fuel his confusion. The Overseer, or more specifically Powell, was a man tasked with making sure the villagers of Trudid paid their taxes. He had apparently also helped defend Trudid against the attacks of any errant Beasts, although Alleyn didn’t have the ability to confirm that as all his knowledge about Powell came curtesy of Gareth, the village Herbalist who, now that he thought about it, had been quite vocal about his dislike for Powell. Gareth obviously wasn’t concerned that Alleyn would tell anyone about his distrust as he had cursed the man on numerous occasions whenever the old Herbalist came by to do his biweekly checkups.

Powell had purportedly been quite unwilling to interact with just about anyone unless absolutely necessary, something that had changed a little under ten years ago when Powell very suddenly became friendly with the vast majority of the Trudid villagers, despite barely being able to consider anyone acquaintances. While it was certainly a process for the man to become accepted in Trudid, especially considering his status as a Mage, it wasn’t long until he was treated as if he’d always lived in the village. It wasn’t more than a couple of visits ago that Gareth had complained about Powell having slept with his granddaughter, all while cursing the Overseer in the most colourful language Alleyn had ever heard; Gareth had also said he firmly believed that Powell had been bedding the majority of the Trudid women, all while somehow managing to remain on amicable terms with all but the most jealous men in the village, though he did manage to win over even them, something Gareth accredited to Powell being a Mage.

(“Is this your doing?”) Alleyn asked internally in reference to the sudden appearance of this new window.

[While this Quest does make use of a System function, it is one that I do not have access to. I would like to recommend that you do your best to complete this Quest nonetheless, as the restoration of another System function would undoubtedly help you in the future,] the voice answered and, while it was a more than a little discomforting that something else had the ability to access the System, Alleyn couldn’t help but agree with this inner voice of his; it was obvious that his road forward would be much smoother if he had access to more of these Quests, especially if they all gave him rewards like this one apparently would.

Alleyn smiled wryly as, while it was true that he didn’t know what to do, becoming a thief wasn’t something he had expected to happen. The choice was a simple one to make though, especially since he didn’t believe it was possible to reject the Quest, at least not without incurring the penalty which, considering it seemed to be very permanent, he was quite unwilling to suffer. And so, with his mind made up, Alleyn thought about how he would go about completing the Quest; he couldn’t very well just go take the pendant, don’t even mention leave the house.

Alleyn stood up after roughly ruffling his still wet hair, now having realised that he’d have to wait until later to think of something; he’d felt someone enter through the gate and Alleyn knew it was Gareth as, despite there still being a week and a half until his next scheduled visit, he was the only one ‘allowed’ to get close to him. Alleyn opened the door and, as he expected, on the other side he saw Gareth, a man who truly didn’t look like someone his age as, despite being the third oldest in Trudid, he looked younger than even some of the middle-aged men in the village, his only signs of age being the well-groomed grey hair and beard, as well as crows feet at the edge of his eyes and a few pronounced wrinkles on his forehead.

“Perceptive as ever,” Gareth remarked with a smile upon noticing Alleyn standing in the door, “May I come in?”

Alleyn responded with a nod as he stepped aside, holding the door open allowing Gareth to step inside with his leather satchel before he closed the door. While it was odd for Gareth to come by early, it was a welcome visit nonetheless. “Well,” Gareth said as he sat himself down on one of the empty chairs, “I thought I’d check up on you since I felt you were troubled last we parted. Anything changed?” he asked, his voice laden with concern.

Alleyn shook his head with a smile to relay that he was fine before he turned to the well-room to get a fresh bucket of water, the only thing he could offer the old man. It didn’t feel right to not tell Gareth about what was going on, he didn’t quite have the means to share his burdens with him, not that he would even if he had the option; while it certainly made Alleyn feel as if he was betraying the bond between to some extent, it seemed unfair to push his problems unto him, especially after how Gareth had vouched for him, promising to take the risk of exposing himself to whatever plagued Alleyn in exchange for the latter being allowed to stay in Trudid. No, it would be better if he didn’t trouble the man any further and just did whatever he could to repay Gareth in the future.

Walking back into the kitchen Alleyn filled two unremarkable ceramic cups and offered one to Gareth which he accepted with a polite nod, “Are you completely sure you’re ok?” he asked, motioning towards the splintered bowl Alleyn had thrown earlier. In response, Alleyn just shrugged with a somewhat forced smile on his face.

“Hmm. Well, help me prepare some herbs, will you?” Gareth said with slightly squinted eyes, obviously believing that there was ‘something’ wrong but ultimately decided not to pry; the boy had some of the biggest issues in the village after all, so it would be more concerning if Alleyn had simply accepted it.

In response to Gareth's request, Alleyn sat down opposite the man and began grinding the herbs that had been laid out before him. This was yet another reason why Alleyn had always looked forward to Gareth’s visits as, besides being his only source of meaningful interaction, the deceptively young-looking Elder had been teaching him some basic Herbalism, a profession Alleyn greatly respected since it couldn’t only help in treating illnesses and such, it could also help in prolonging the life of yourself and others, albeit to a lesser extent; Gareth had explained that, while he would’ve loved to help ‘preserve’ the other Elders, prolonging longevity was a never-ending process that needed an extreme amount of information about the individual’s body, something he simply couldn’t get on anyone but himself. Even then, the fact that there hadn’t been even a single illness-related death in Trudid in the last couple of centuries was more than enough for everyone in the village to respect the old man.

Alleyn wasn’t anywhere near Gareth’s level obviously, mostly due to the fact that Gareth couldn’t ever stay for long. But, despite that, the simple act of contributing something at all had become one of the things he looked forward to the most, although Alleyn was quite sure that the Trudid people would be less than happy should they realise that he had a hand in preparing the salves and remedies that helped keep them healthy.

“Ah, right,” Gareth suddenly said, bringing Alleyn’s attention back to the real world as he paused his thoughtless grinding of the herbs, “The Spring Festival is next week, and I’ll see if I can’t get you something nice to eat; how does that sound?” he asked and, seeing the radiantly smiling Alleyn, he couldn’t help but smile himself.

Alleyn, now in an even better mood than before, changed the herb-mush in the mortar out for another batch, as he came to a sudden realisation: the Spring Festival would likely be his best chance at completing his Quest, especially if Powell was as sociable as Gareth complained he was. In addition, since the Spring Festival was something of a ritual meant to pray for a good harvest, something everyone in the village depended on, it was uncommon for anyone besides Alleyn to not attend, leaving the Overseer’s house completely unattended...