How are we supposed to get past him? Damien asked.

Ris studied the alien guard, “Hmm there has to be some kind of trick to it. He is ultra-powerful so we can’t fight our way through him.”

“That’s for sure. Look at us,” Cornelius said. “We have basic weapons, no armor or gear, and we are barely level two.”

“Mic find out!” The tough alien march confidently up to the guard.

“What is your purpose here? What do you hope to find?” The guard asked.

“Knowledge,” Mic said and then immediately ducked.

“Ah, you must be part of the expedition and excavation team, then?”

“Yes!” Mic lied.

“There is much to learn in the cavern. I have been in there and seen the archives myself, but without the professor’s orders I am not allowed to let anyone enter until he returns.”

“Where is the professor, we have been separated from him,” Ris said, now joining Mic.

“At camp, I would assume.”

“What happened to the Alteri?”

“The Alteri?” The guard seemed confused.

“We were told the Alteri was trying to break into the archives,” Ris said.

The guard slammed his fist into his hand, “Let them try!”

“Who in cavern now?” Mic asked.

“Just one of the professor’s survey teams.” The guard responded. “Say, you had better get to the professor in a hurry if you want to join the expedition. He doesn’t wait for anyone who dawdles around.”

Mic turned to the others, “Why him no speak stupid like me?”

“Thank you. We will go find him at once.” Ris said.

Mic leaned in so the alien could hear his muted tone, “You better check survey team. Me no think they are from professor.”

The alien studied Mic’s face for a long moment and then smiled while he pounded his hand into his fist. “Thanks, brother.” He said before turning and hurrying off after the team.

“We go in now?” Mic suggested.

“We don’t have to. I think we need to speak with this professor.” Ris said. “Besides, if there really are Alteri in there, I think they are about to have their hands full.”

Their wrist devices made a soft sound of a bell tinkling. Ris brought his up to eye level. The display was flashing the words Episode 1: The Professor under the tag labeled quest log, just below the Archives quest. They were both outlined in red. As soon as he and Mic rejoined the others, Ris took out the pocket scanner and began pointing it all around. “If there is a camp nearby, this scanner should spot the lifeforms.”

“Good work, Mic,” Amelia said patting the alien on the back.

“Someone had to do it,” Mic said.

“Got it. There is a large concentration of red dots about two clicks to the south, it has to be the camp.” Ris said.

“Or a bunch of swolves or wild animals, those red dots are life forms.” Cornelius reminded him, all life forms.

“You’re not a very optimistic person are you!” Damien said.

Cornelius shrugged, “I am just realistic.”

“We’ll be careful. Come on.” Ris said, heading in the direction of the life forms.

When they approached the area, it was clear it was a humanoid camp. White smoke from campfires and cook fires rose up through the thin trees, the smell of cooking food, and the chatter of persons made it abundantly clear. They cautiously approached the men standing on the trail near a cluster of canvas tents. The men appeared human. Ris looked at his armband, which registered the outline of the men as blue while the guard they had faced was outlined in red.

“That’s far enough strangers,” The closest of the men said, “What can I do for you?”

“We are looking for the professor,” Ris said. “We wish to join in the expedition and excavation of the cavern.”

“Ah, the recruits. The professor told me to keep a sharp eye out for you. Please come in.” He waved them into the camp. “The professor is in the biggest tent near the center. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks!” Ris said.

“My pleasure.” The guard reciprocated.

A soft bell sounded from their wrist device. Ris looked at the display.

Tutorial mode: Merchants are non-player characters where you may buy and sell goods and repair damaged equipment and weapons. Several merchants have been detected in the immediate area. Quest, seek out a merchant and sample their goods. The quest entered the quest log outlined in blue.

“I think I understand this quest log now,” Reyes said. “I think the quest lines we have been following are too high level. This merchant side quest is blue. I take that to mean it’s easier and closer to our level.”

“I think he’s right.” Damien agreed.

“Okay, then we do the merchant quest and see,” Ris said.

They each went to a merchant and looked at what they had to offer. As soon as each one of them touched the merchandise, their quest log updated with experience. They regrouped afterward.

“That seemed pretty easy to me,” Ris said. “Watch your quests closely and most of all don’t attack anything the tracker identifies as red”

They found the largest tent and entered. At the center hovering over a table of maps and artifacts was a man with a short white beard, wrinkles, and white hair protruding out from under a straw hat.

“Professor?” Ris asked the older man. The man shook his head and pointed to a dark-haired fellow with glasses and a magnifying glass looking over a piece of parchment. The professor appeared to be no more than twenty-five years old. “Professor?” Ris asked.

The man looked up from his parchment, “Yes, I am professor Dent.”

“We were told you needed help with your expedition.”

He looked at each one of them and seemed particularly unsettled at Mic, “I don’t need any help with the main expedition but I do have need of a team to explore a new underground chamber discovered in the ruins we thought previously to be unremarkable.”

“What about the Alteri Dominion?” Damien asked.

The professor huffed. “I took care of them. They work for one of the families who rule around these parts, House Davosi. The Davosi have been trying to get their hands on the artifacts I have uncovered because there is a rumor about an ancient power source of some nonsense these ancient people used. I know a few people in a rival family. I made a few communications and lo and behold the Alteri left on their own accord, empty handed.” He gestured toward Ris’ scanner, “May I?”

“Certainly.” Ris handed the professor his scanner.

“Here are the coordinates of the ruins. I noticed your wrist devices. They should be able to record and map the area. Explore the ruins, find the underground chamber and investigate it. Return to me when you are done and I will compensate you.”

Each one of their wrist devices made the ding sound and indicated they had advanced to level 3. Ris checked the display and the professor’s quest had been added. It was blue.

“All right, I understand this. The professor quests have several parts so it is an episode. Each quest will fall under that heading until we complete them all and the final reward is a full set of new tenth level equipment.” Damien said.

“Where do you see that,” Reyes asked.

“Here, let me show you.”

“Oh, okay, so we do these quests in order,” Reyes said.

“Yes, exactly,” Damien said.

“What in the devil are you talking about? The professor asked.

“Just something we do together to pass the time. Pay us no attention.”

“Reds and blues and such….” He rambled on about it until he was out of earshot.

Ris pointed the scanner, “Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to the ruins.