Chapter 16: First Steps

Tobias didn’t know why he had written down ‘Marcus’ as his name. Inside, some part of him knew that if Marcus was still alive, his first steps to becoming a Hero would most likely be to become an Adventurer. So spurred on by that realization, he had written his friend’s name before he knew it.

And now, his adventurer name was Marcus. That... just meant that he should become the Hero that Marcus never became, did it not? It was messed up... He knew that. And yet, he couldn’t help it for some reason...

With a small, melancholic smile gracing his face, he shook his head to clear those thoughts away, and studied the signboard and the papers pinned to it.

It was a wooden signboard, and there were two potted plants by its sides. It was filled to the brim with pinned papers of quests of all sorts, but it wasn’t haphazardly pinned all over the place; he could see eight columns of pinned papers, with a label on the top of each column. From left to right were the lowest to highest ranking quests.

He took a paper from the Copper ranked quests. It was... a quest about a missing pet, really. It was a black cat with a red collar, and the last time it was seen was somewhere in the marketplace. It paid for forty copper coins. It seemed simple enough, so he took it the receptionist. It was already afternoon, and there was no line anymore. It must have been the time where adventurers completed their quests.

“Ah, found a quest already did you?” She asked, as she took the paper from his hands. Then she blinked, as if it was unexpected. “This is... You don’t want to complete a subjugation or extermination type quest?”

“This quest looked easy.” He replied, shrugging. “I only arrived a few hours ago. This quest is also good for me so I can memorize the layout of the city.”

“I see...” She said, as she approved the quest. She covered her hand and gave a cough. “You seem to have your wits and pride sorted.”

Tobias only looked back, and gave a small shrug with his shoulders, before nodding. Then he stepped out of the guild, and set off to find a missing cat.

It wasn’t quite glorious, but Tobias had a feeling that Marcus would have wanted his first quest to be something that might help a person or two in need, instead of something which required violence immediately.

So he approached a person and asked for directions to the mentioned marketplace. The person nodded and gave him precise instructions – go forth, a right turn here, a left turn there, and then the marketplace would reveal itself. He thanked them for their help.

He wasn’t sure if it was his hunting (mis)fortune, or some kind of divine providence, but the moment he stepped into the marketplace, the first thing that caught his attention was a cat’s loud meow. In addition; the cat was black, and had a red collar about its neck.

Its fur was frizzy and he could see specks of dust about it, but it seemed to be well-acquainted with humans if nothing else. And the moment the cat realized that Tobias was looking at it, its instincts seemed to flare, as it began to run.

Tobias immediately gave chase.

The cat might have been more agile, but he was far more determined than it’ll ever be.

***

“I completed the quest.” Marcus announced flatly, and Eva was only staring at the cat he held. In turn, the cat stared back at her, and hissed. To say that the boy’s hands were covered in scratch marks would be a minor understatement.

“Does – your hands hurt?” She couldn’t help but ask, wincing as she saw the cat jerk suddenly. It flailed around, but Marcus held it in a way that prevented it from biting him, or scratching him. So it looked quite... silly, even if it was somewhat dangerous.

“Don’t worry.” Marcus said, looking at his hands, before shrugging it aside as if it was the most normal thing to do. “I’ve been through worse.”

She blinked. “I’ll – go get a cage for these kinds of quests.” She said, while she stood up to retrieve what she said.

The archives were quite dusty, but there was a metal cage sticking out in the corner. It was polished and clean in comparison, likely because of its useful nature.

When she returned back to the desk, she found Marcus holding the cat to look at it directly head on – and the cat’s eyes were widened dramatically, while it stayed perfectly still. On closer inspection, it wasn’t perfectly still. It was shivering, as if it was looking at something dangerous.

“Ah, there you are.” Marcus said, and handed the cat to her. It was much more behaved than it was a few seconds ago, and Eva wondered just what exactly did Marcus do to scare a cat into docility. The cat had no physical injuries from quick inspection, so it was simply pure intimidation, is it?

“I... see.” She said, blinking while she transferred the cat to the cage. “Your quest is complete then.” She stamped the quest paper, before placing it on the pile which had completed quests. And then she pulled the drawer attached to her desk, and pulled out two strings of coins. “Here’s your payment.”

Marcus looked at the offered coins, before taking them. He didn’t bother to count them, only giving a light shake and a nod, before going back to the signboard to pick another quest. Maybe this time, he would pick a more valiant quest. Clearing a rat’s nest in the sewers, maybe? Or maybe killing the odd slime-like entities also in said sewers?

Or was he brave (stupid) enough to go for a Magical Dungeon already?

He returned with another paper. “I would like to take this quest.”

“Certainly.” She said, as she began to read the paper. Her eyebrows furrowed.

It was another missing pet quest.

She sighed as she approved the quest. Adventurers needed to start somewhere, right...?

...

That day, and that day alone, Marcus had completed no less than seven missing pet quests.