A chubby kid (or so she thought) hovered in the air. His wings made a screeching sounds that reminded her of a cricket on a summer night. White clothes wrapped his body messily like he was in a rush to go and didn’t have time to put on at least a decent pants. Under the moonlight, his creepy smile flashed on his face and scared the already coward Mia. The whip in his hand swayed in the air.

“Knock! Knock! I said knock knock, but naughty and wicked Mia doesn’t want to let me in.” The Guardian of the Quest said. He sounded like a kid whose parents refused to buy candy.

“Who are you?” Said Mia. She leaned so close to the wall as if she wanted to bury herself in the wall.

“Have you not heard of me, you wicked girl?” He sat by the bed and lay, “They called me the Guardian of the Quest, but I prefer to be call Poppy.”

“Poop- py,” Said Mia. “What a weird name you had.”

“Poppy! It’s Poppy!” He rolled on the bed and stomped his feet like an angry kid.

“I’m sorry Poppy, I’ve never heard such a name before.” Said Mia.

“Now, you know my name, its time for punishment. Mia is such a bad and wicked sorceress.” He said. He laughed and played with the whip, threatening the scared Mia.

Bang!

The bedroom’s door slammed.

Why didn’t Edgar came to save her? She glanced at the door a few times, hoping to see him.

“No, no, no. It doesn’t work that way. Nothing you can do to escape the punishment. Forgot about him, too. He won’t come to save you. He’s terrified of me.” Poppy laughed.

Mia wanted to ask him why, but before she could open her mouth, Poppy burst into fire. He looked like burnt charcoal with a devilish smile or a roasted chicken in Oyen’s eyes. He swung the whip in his hand and hit the floor where she stood.

“Liberior!”

Mia lifted her wand and cast a protective spell. Poppy let out a spooky laugh. He swung the whip again and smacked her hand. The wand fell on to ground.

“Ah… Didn’t Edgar tell you anything? You can’t fight against your punishment.”

The third time the whip struck, Mia turned her back and the whip slapped her back. It wasn’t the pain she was anticipating, but instead a very bizarre feeling. She collapsed to the floor. Flashes of gruesome images played repeatedly in her mind, threatening to take what she loved the most. The smell of death lingered around her. Her fear began to feast on her happiness. Inside, she felt very hollow and depressed.

‘Is this what Edgar meant? They took a part of your life and only return it when the quest was done?’

“Since this is your first time, I will stop here. Remember not to stray from your path next time.”

Poppy flew back through the same window and vanished in the gloomy shadow. Mia crawled back to the bed and stared at the ceiling for a long time. All she did was said a sentence. That’s it. One sentence.

The quest was evil.

By the time she arrived at the kitchen, Edgar, Baddie, and Oyen were already seated around the table. Edgar sipped a glass of orange juice and smiled when he saw her rugged look and eye bag. Baddie picked up the plate and threw everything down his throat in one go. His face gleamed with happiness by the sight of the perfect sunny side egg. Oyen smacked his head, annoyed with his lack of table manners.

Edgar pulled a seat for her and handed her a glass of orange juice. He was acting extra attentive and caring that morning.

“I believed you have been visited by the Guardian of the Quest.” He said. He grabbed an apple on the table and peeled the skin. “You must be terribly shocked. Don’t think too much about it, it happened to everyone. You’ll get used to it.”

“Poppy scares me.” Said Mia, with a very strained smile.

The morning went with Edgar doing his best to cheer Mia and Oyen teaching Baddie a noble table manner.

Slightly before afternoon, Edgar offered to take her to Portheart Town.

She wandered around the port and watched old man Augustus struggled with a heavy load. Augustus was a skinny old man who owned a Fishmonger at the port, where Mia always went for fish. His white hair covered his head on that hot sunny day. His trembling hand was obvious proof that he was too old to carry such a heavy load. He tripped on a wet floor and the basket full of fishes spilled and scattered on the ground. Everyone was too busy to help him, or maybe they didn’t care at all. They walked past him and avoided the fishes. Some kicked it aside.

Mia sighed.

She rushed to pick the fish and put them back in the basket.

“Thank you, young lady. Thank you for helping this old man,” Old man Augustus said. His face gleamed with gratitude over her gesture of kindness.

Ding!

You earned 5+ Reputation points!

The road to become the righteous and respected sorceress is long, but you must not give up. One day, the time will come when everyone bows their head at the presence of the Greatest Sorceress.

“Eh? What??” Mia was stunned. Both by the notification and the sound of the voice that belonged to Poppy. She looked around but he was nowhere in sight.

‘Reputation point? Did she just earn a reputation point? She helped a man and she earned a reputation point?’

“Thank you, young lady. I said, thank you for helping this old man,” The man repeated again.

Mia was elated. She was still confused, but nonetheless, it seemed that the quest had acknowledged her action and Poppy didn’t come to punish her. She didn’t have to face the wrath of the Guardian of the Quest. In the end, she offered herself to carry the basket and helped the old man Augustus around his shop.

When the afternoon passed, she took her basket full of dried fish she bought from old man Augustus. Seemed that this month they will eat a lot of dried fish.

She spent her entire day looking for someone to help but the Goddess of Quest wasn’t that generous after all. She wasted a generous amount of energy too, just to avoid the killer-wannabe. What was he doing in the port? Was he hunting for a sorceress? Mia shuddered.

Another day passed, at least not in vain. She got a reputation point to boast and a basket of dried fish to eat. Edgar wouldn’t be happy with both her non-stop boasting and his new dried fish diet. Mia grinned at the new method she discovered to torture him.

On that particular morning, there was no warm sun or a gentle breeze. Instead, the thunders roared and the wave splashed fiercely. Mountain of water rolled over the harbor wall. The rain kept on pouring the whole morning and stretched till late afternoon.

Mia spent the whole day listening to the harsh wind and warming herself with a mug of hot milk at the tavern when the man she loathed the most stepped in.

‘Ahhhh…Should have listened to my instinct this morning. This is a worse day to go out.’

The killer-wannabe walked over to her table and sat. Oyen hissed but he treated him like air. So much like air that he almost stepped on his tail.

“I’ve seen you a lot nowadays. You’ve been avoiding me like a plague, I must say.” Said the man. He smiled and called the waitress over for a mug of ginger ale.

“Did I? I’m sorry if I offended you. You scare me.” Mia muttered. She took a sip of milk and lower her gaze.

“What? Scares you?” The man asked.

“You remind me of the ghoul that lives at the attic above my room.” Said Mia coldly.

“You can see spirits?” The man spoke excitedly.

“No, but I had the portrait of my grandpa when he was still alive,” Mia smirked at her lies.

“He must be a handsome man, that grandpa of yours.” Said the man. He lifted his mug and drank.

“It’s the contrary.” Mia murmured.

“Anyway, I’m Garret,” Said the man. He extended his hand and offered a handshake.

“And I’m off. Bye.” Said Mia. She stood up and bumped the table, almost toppling it over.

Ding!

New skill unlocked!

Liar, liar, your pants on fire (Expert)

You have accumulated enough experience throughout your life to skipped three levels and unlocked expert level.

Be careful not to stray into the Path of the Wicked or the Guardian of the Quest will catch you.

“Holy cow! Milk pudding!” Mia cursed.

“Say again?” The man asked. He stared attentively at Mia.

“I forgot the ghoul had moved on to eternal hell.” She sighed and sat back on the chair.

Mia was tempted to brave the heavy thunderstorm and ran back, but her peanut brain holds her back. The last thing she wanted was to get blown away by the wind and carried to a strange island, like Mrs. Addams last week.

She forced herself to listen to the man the whole afternoon. Luckily, she learned midway that the man’s life quest wasn’t to hunt and kill sorcerers and sorceresses. Her hatred and fear towards him reduced by a quarter. He almost reached the interesting part about his life quest when Edgar entered the tavern.

“There you are, my daughter. I’ve been looking all over for you. Let’s go home,” Said the tall, burly man with a messy beard and crooked nose.

Relieved, Mia paid for their drink and rushed to leave.

Edgar led them into a narrow path at the edge of the port town, down the stairs and under the dark bridge.

“Everyone, hold me tight,” He said.

“Apeaructos!”

Everything happened too fast. One blink and they appeared in front of the fireplace in their cottage. Mia stumbled on the ground. Her head spun wild. Even after countless times of traveling with the teleportation spell, she still couldn’t get used to it.