Chapter 3: Cubs and Questing

Woah! Having your sense of spatial orientation shift from vertical to horizontal is enough to knock you off your feet. 

Lucky for me I’m not on my feet, but laying on what appears to be a relatively soft bed. Soft enough to know it wasn’t straw, I’d tried that before. Maybe rags or scrap paper going by the lumpiness or something else. Still it beats the camping foam I had back in the real world.

I probably could have had a nap if it wasn’t for the hands shaking me and the young npc calling my characters name.

“Sister Aisling, Sister Aisling! Wake up! Wake up! You’re running late,” the child cried, almost yelling with excitement. 

“Huh, late for what?” I asked, opening my eyes. Wow. My voice, while obviously sounding confused, came out soft and high like the gentle ringing of small silver bells. It was a pretty voice, the sort I would associate with someone gentle and caring. That’s my voice, wow…

Grabbing my arm, the child started pulling until I sat up. He was an Alrec, probably nine or ten and reminded me of a fluffy bear cub. 

“Are you still half asleep? You’re leaving today! I thought you wanted to say goodbye to everyone before you left, besides the Head Matron wants to talk to you before you leave. I think she wants you to stay, I want you to stay. Can’t you stay at the orphanage and become a matron like Sister Amy?” the kid gushed speaking louder and faster as he went on, before finally giving me the puppy dog eyes. 

Should that be bear cub eyes? Wow the npcs were lifelike. I almost wanted to give in and stay, but that would be an odd way to spend my time in a VRMMO. This was obviously a quest flag and I was obviously as much an orphan here in this world as I was back home.

Reaching over, I ruffled his head fur and stood up, “How about I give you a piggyback ride and you direct me to the Head Matron?”

“Ok… but ya hafta do it the whole way,” the child said, going from pouting to excited in a single sentence. 

Winking, I grabbed the Alrec under his fuzzy little armpits, hoisting him up into the air and then down onto my shoulders. My arms stung a little from the exertion, I probably should have put a point or two into strength.

“Ok, it's your turn now, which way are we heading?” I playfully asked, ready to start my first dreaded escort mission.

“Umm… This way!” he yelled, throwing his weight forward and almost sending me toppling as he pointed down the hallway.

Staggering forward, I managed to keep myself from face planting into the packed earth floor. This orphanage obviously wasn’t funded, going by the cracked paint that was peeling off the thin wooden walls. It looked like the kind of place that relied on charity, but was suffering through uncharitable times.

Following the orphan rider's directions I found myself in front of a closed wooden door. Before I could knock a kind but commanding voice rang out from behind the door, "Come in Dears, don't be shy."

Behind the door was an austere office and sleeping quarters that had been frugally furnished, with a simple cot for sleeping, chest for belongings, a small bookshelf and a desk laden with heavy responsibilities. Looking up from her abacus, a care-worn woman flashed us a warm, motherly smile as I lowered the kid back to the ground.

The Head Matron turned her attention to my escort and slipped him a biscuit, “Thank you Paph. Now run along dear, I hear Sister Pamela is making white mustard and dandelion root soup. You don’t want to miss out!”

Closing the door behind Paph, her gaze returned, fixating on me. Her eyes seemed to flash with a piercing intelligence that saw through me.

“Such a good girl looking after her siblings, I knew I made the right choice,” she said appraisingly, as if talking to herself. What choice? 

“You wanted to see me?” talking with her had to be a flag, I was likely going to leave her with some information and a quest, maybe even some equipment if I was lucky.

“Yes, I— Hmmm, what’s this?” she asked, reaching over and tapping my shoulder. 

My mind went blank as I experienced the sensation of being ripped from my body, only to be returned less than a second later, to the sensation of every nerve cell firing as if I had been tased.

“Sorry dear, I thought I saw a nasty bug. Nevermind it's gone now,” she apologised, brushing her hand on her dress. 

What was that?! Did she just tase me with a lightning ability to kill a bug?

“Where was I? Ah yes, I wanted to speak to you dear before you went off on your adventure, have a little heart to heart and give you some advice to remember me by,” she said.

Noticing her pause, I nodded my assent.

“I try to do my best by my children, some need a little extra love to make up for time without, others need guidance and someone to help them hatch from their cocoon, some though are stranded and need to be shown their wings. As much as I would love to keep a good girl like yourself here, it is time you left the nest and began your adventure. 

Firstly be careful, there are lots of people here who will react badly if they learn what you are dear. Keep your eyes and ears open. Secondly, If you ever meet some people you think you can trust and depend on, don’t hesitate to open up to them or ask for help. You’ve spent long enough alone. 

If you need somewhere to return to or need help, I will always be here for you. Also don’t forget, mothers do so much for their children without them knowing, I might have something for you when next we meet and maybe one day you’ll help me.

You should stop by the ‘Bear and the Beekeeper’ first. There are usually adventurers there and Janus the tavern keeper has a board where people list jobs. Probably the best place for you to start.

Now run along dear and good luck!”

Talk about an info dump… I was still staring off into space, trying to process everything she said when she started shooing me out of her office.

“Huh…” I sighed.

I guess I better make my goodbyes to the orphans and head off to the Bear and Beeman.

* * *

The farewells took a while and left me feeling emotional despite them all being npcs I had only just met, they saw me as family which made their heartfelt goodbyes all the more potent.

By the time I had left the orphanage the sun was high in the sky, it was hard to believe it was still the same day as my pre-dawn tunnel trip.

I wasn’t alone though, Paph had taken the opportunity to skip chores and was running circles around me trying to weasel his adorable furry way into getting another piggyback ride.

“Hey! Hey! You’re gunna be an adventurer right? Right? I want to ride a dragon one day! Are you going to fight any dragons? Can I come to the tavern too? Matron Amy says I’m not allowed to… Can I? Can I? Please!” 

“Fine, but behave yourself!”

“Yippi!” he exclaimed, before making a playful grab for my tail. My tail seemed to have a mind of its own and was swishing its way out of his grasp for all its was worth. I don’t know how, but someone told me it would feel very unpleasant to have my tail grabbed.

 “Oi! Not that,” I yelped grabbing my tail away and hugging it. 

Paph’s eyes lit up with mischief, “So... about that piggyback ride?” Brat… Thinks he can hold my tail hostage.

Opening the ability creator, I slotted a ranged burst node from the range magic cast tree and a light node from the illusions tree. With a blinking green indicator letting me know it was a viable ability and I labeled it [Flash] and moved it into my fourth active spell slot. I already seemed to have an Arcane bolt ability, a Decoy ability and a curious ability named Shimmer barricade.

While I was experimenting with the ability creator, I'd let my tail go and sure enough a certain fluffy was making a grab for it.

"Hey Paph, I've got something for you," I teased with a cheeky smile

Looking up from my tail, his small ursine ears twitched with curiosity, "What is it? What is it?!" Paph squeaked bouncing up and down with excitement.

Drawing my hand behind my back, I activated my Flash ability and threw it towards him, "Catch!" I yelled, looking away and beginning to run. My shadow stretched out in front of me despite the noon sun above as the spell went off 

"Last one to the inn is a rotten egg!" I called out over my shoulder.

The inn wasn't far away. Made from the same flimsy aged wood as the rest of the town, the inn was marked by a hanging sign depicting a man man cowering in fear as a bear leant over him to grab a beehive. Who named this place?

Reaching the tavern's entrance first, I had time to straighten my dress and stick out my tongue, before my npc sibling caught up.

"No fair! You tricked me. I want a do over," Paph complained, while standing tiny foot. It kinda made me want to tease him more, but I knew he would likely make a nuisance of himself in the inn, seeking revenge if I did.

I know cause I'd probably do the same in his position. 

Well here goes. "You ready to behave yourself so we can go inside Paph?" I asked, doing my best impression of my mom. She had always been quick to play and have fun, but she would always use this voice when it was time to stop and behave.

Either my impression worked or Paph was excited enough about the inn to cooperate, because he responded by nodding so vigorously he wouldn't have looked out of place at a metal concert.

Inside, the tavern was dimly lit and understandably empty for the time of day. Walking inside the straw covered dirt quietly crunched under my feet. Despite how excited he had been outside, Paph was clinging to my dress as he looked around the room with wide eyed curiosity.

Behind the bar was empty, but the job board was easy enough to find, the whole left-hand wall as you entered was covered in sheets and scraps of parchment nailed straight into the wood of the wall.

Over a dozen of the notices were from this noble or that noble calling on adventures to sign on as mercenaries for their side in what appeared to be a civil war. There were a few bounty notices requesting aid eliminating individuals or groups of bandits who seemed to be proliferating while the various noble's forces were off fighting each other.

Other notices asked for help gathering resources for craftsmen or culling beasts and monsters.

Looking over them all, there seemed to be a local system of ranking starting at copper at the easiest going up through the different metals to gold.

Noticing my indecision Paph reached up on his tippy toes and plucked a notice from the wall and handed it to me.

Copper Bounty: Greater Lagomorphs

Details: Kill 5 Greater Lagomorphs and bring their carcasses to the Bear and Beekeeper.

Reward: 2 Silver Lions and 50 Bronze Acorns, or 5 Silver Lions if the carcasses are in excellent condition. 20 Bronze Acorns per additional Carcass.

"Do this one big sis! The others look dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt…" the boy cub pleaded.

I guess he was right, I did need to pace myself and learn how to use my abilities before tackling anything harder. Bringing up my UI I saw an accept button hovering over the bounty notice just waiting to be clicked.

My quest log dinged, as the bounty I accepted was added to it. Opening my quest log I saw the details of the bounty notice replicated with the addition of experience listed in the rewards and a track button.

Quest tracking, that sounds useful. Turning it on I felt vague mental pull in the direction of the tavern's entrance.

"Ok, time for my first quest!"