Both of us headed downstairs towards the quest board. I'm rather excited to see what my first quest is gonna be. Let's see, monster hunting with a minimum rank of Fighter, no, can't choose that. Hunting demons with a minimum rank of Shadow Knight, no, doubt Rick would even agree to that. Hmm, this seems to be the only Warrior rank quest available. Find missing kette. Guess this'll have to do.
"Seems like you're gonna be looking for a missing animal then," spoke Rick as he read the same quest paper pinned on the quest board.
"It's the only one available for my rank. Don't really have a choice, do I? How do I proceed from here?" I asked him.
"Take the paper and head over to that counter there. They will assign this quest to your name," Rick explained.
Time for me to get the quest registered then. My first quest, how exciting. I rushed towards the counter that Rick pointed to. Oh, it's Miss Angelica. That's—odd, I thought she's the guild's receptionist.
"Hello there~ Would like to undertake this quest with Rick senpai over there, if you don't mind," I said to her.
"Sure, just give me a moment to get it sorted. Congratulations on getting accepted, by the way," she smiled.
"Thank you. Guess you got promoted too? Since you're working here instead of the reception now?" I asked her.
"Oh, no, silly. We have shifts that move us around. We alternate between reception and the quest counter often," she smiled.
I'm glad that my previous joke had not affected our conversation. Would hate for things to be awkward since I'm fairly sure I'll be talking to her often.
"I see, sorry about my joke earlier. Was just kidding, by the way," I assured her.
"Oh, don't worry about it. You're not the first to flirt with me anyway. Although, you're certainly the first that made my heart skip," she trailed off at the end, speaking rather softly.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked her.
"Your quest is assigned to you now. You can head out on your quest," she smiled as she handed me the paperwork.
"Oh, thank you very much," I smiled and retrieved the papers.
Alright, time to head out on my first quest. How exciting. I showed Rick the papers, and he said that we're good to go. Onwards and upwards then.
Side Quest Unlocked: Find missing kette
We headed towards the location of the quest giver, where the address was written at the bottom of the front paper. Hm? Seems like there's some event or festival up ahead, judging by the loud music being played. Is that the reason as to why there were no side stores yesterday?
What's it about though? I tried to peek through, but all I could see were nothing but trees of adult legs. I lost interest after a few attempts and decided to continue towards the address of the quest giver. I was suddenly lifted up by someone. I turned around and saw Rick lifting me up.
Wow, all the performers were wearing black along with the decorations. Is this—a marching band? Perhaps a parade. I asked Rick to put me down before I start looking like Simba. I swear I can already start hearing the "Ahhhhhhh" in the background.
"What's this festival about? Everything seems to be in black," I asked Rick.
"Hmm. If I'm not mistaken, legend has it that a young boy wanted to see a marching band inside the city. But sadly, the boy passed before he managed to see one. The father decided to honour his wish, to ensure that no children would ever miss the chance to see one. Hence, he decided to throw a parade on this particular date every year. What a father, for honouring his child's wish," Rick smiled sadly but seemed to admire the father's efforts.
The father must have been a great person for people to continue to carry out his legacy even after today. Oh well, time for me to carry on. Onwards to the quest giver.
***
We reached about evening time, and I proceeded to knock on the door. Seeing that Rick was just here to "supervise", I had to take the initiative. Not a moment later, a blond-haired woman opened the door.
"Hello, miss. I'm here to solve your quest that you submitted to the Dark Guild. May I ask some questions pertaining to it?" I asked her as politely as possible. She seemed like a nice lady.
"Oh, aren't you adorable, and handsome too. Here's what I can tell you. My kette went missing a couple of days ago, and I couldn't find it anywhere. I even used its favourite food to lure it back, but... it was nowhere in sight. It hadn't returned even after all this time. Please help me find where it went or even what happened to it," she explained.
"Rest assured, I'll find your kette. May I ask specific details about your kette? Like how does it look or its features?" I asked.
I'm sure there are plenty of kettes around the city, so finding her kette will be difficult without specific details. It could be anywhere right about now. I do hope that it had not sneaked out of the city's walls.
"Let's see, he has white fur all across his body. He's quite picky with his food and usually prefers the more expensive ones," said the lady with a thinking expression.
How—does his food palate's preference help me in searching for this kette? Unfortunately, that detail was the very reason for how I found that damn kette. I searched everywhere for it. High and low, wet and dry. I even put out flyers and asked many households about its whereabouts.
It took me one week to find this kette. ONE WEEK! I finished my first quest and it took this long. And why? It was because this damn kette was enjoying itself in a fancy kette café. Apparently, it became the main attraction of the café as it knew how to sit on a chair and eat from a plate on the table. I informed the owner after finally figuring out where her kette went, and she immediately ran towards the café in question.
Upon reaching, she barged in and found her kette still sitting on a chair. She then started scolding and pointed her index finger at her kette, all the while a black-haired waitress held the owner back. The kette gave no expression at all.
"You damn kette! I was worried sick that you were kidnapped or eaten, but here you are enjoying expensive food! You're gonna cost me a lot of money, you damn kette!" she shouted.
Rick and I decided to head out as we waited for the lady to finish with her outburst. All I need is her signature, and my first quest will finally be completed. It took some time, but she finally came out from the café, and I immediately asked her to sign off. Glad she was sensible enough to do it on the spot, finally completed! *thunk thung
I apologised to Rick as it took me a stupid amount of time to find this damn kette. He sighed and said that it happens sometimes. Things just never go the way you want them to. It won't be the first nor will it be the last, he told me.
Sadly, this will not reflect well in my portfolio for my first quest, but I was doing it alone. There are only so many locations I can search in a day inside this huge city. And who would be expecting a kette to be inside a damn café?
Now you understand why I was not eager to tell my daughter about this? That quest made me hate kettes so much that I refused to keep any at home. Alright, enough about my first quest. Time for me to focus on my current quest at hand.
***
I left Daisy at her school and headed towards the settlement listed in the quest letter. A yellow dragon, huh? Been a while since I hunted one. Allow me to list down what dragon types exist in this world.
The weakest of all the dragons are the green dragons. Despite being the weakest, a dragon is STILL a dragon, capable of taking down thousands of soldiers before falling, easily tanking hundreds if not thousands of cannon fire beforehand. Yet Grandfather took down one single-handedly. But so did I eventually. It was a challenge at first but now it's not too much of a hassle.
Next up, we have the yellow dragon followed by the blue and ending with the red. Both green and red use fire for their breath attack while yellow uses acid and blue uses ice. Why is the red the "strongest" you ask? That is because they are the biggest, meanest and toughest of their kind. Capable of even melting boulders with their fire breath in seconds, and fire spreads extremely fast, which causes further overwhelming destruction.
So, how "strong" are these dragons though? It's hard to gauge the exact power of each dragon type since all dragons are different despite belonging to the same colours, the same applies to adventurers. Keep in mind that this is based on my observation about the estimated power level of each type, and the power of a standard Dark Knight, which is roughly about a thousand soldiers. Yet there are certain individuals who could solo any of these on their own, and I've met some of them.
Green Dragon
Roughly 1 or 2 Dark Knights
Yellow Dragon
Roughly 2 or 4 Dark Knights
Blue Dragon
Roughly 4 or 6 Dark Knights
Red Dragon
Roughly 6 or 10 Dark Knights
Until date, I had not defeated a blue or red dragon single-handedly. I "might" be able to solo a blue dragon, but I'm sure it'll still be a challenge since their ice breath is troublesome to deal with. I certainly don't wish to measure the strength of my full powers on a whim when I have a wife and daughter waiting for me at home.
***
It was early noon when the sun was bright that I arrived at the settlement. Even without much investigation, it was clear that a yellow dragon had attacked here recently. Multiple houses were melted, including the fences and the surrounding trees. Quite an aggressive dragon we have here.
I slowly proceeded into the settlement, taking careful steps to avoid any suspicious puddles and to look for any survivors. I'm rather glad a couple of them made themselves known as I headed in, opening their doors to peek at me as I walked by. Their expression changed from sombre to delight upon seeing me walk by. Guess I gave a more dependable look compared to my younger days. I'm still wearing a black cloak, albeit a much more superior version to what the blacksmith at 'Holly Begonia' sold to me many years ago.
I conversed with the survivors, and they pointed the direction of where their leader was located. Their leader, upon seeing me, went on his knees and bowed with his head and knees on the ground, stating how grateful he was that a guild had answered his request. He begged me to get rid of the dragon that had plagued them these past months; it was only after I pulled him up that he stopped begging. I gave him my word that I will get rid of this dragon when it came to attack again, whenever that may be.
And here I was hoping that I might be able to finish the quest by evening and be on my merry way. I'm sorry, wifey, guess you might have to pick Daisy up from school later.
I sat on one of the roofs of the few houses that were relatively intact and decided to meditate as I waited for the dragon to return. Tracking it would take weeks, if not months, before I could take it down. What I can do is to ask the villagers to expose their livestock to attract the dragon into attacking again.
You're probably wondering as to how a small settlement was able to afford a request to hire adventurers to hunt a dragon. First of all, the settlement or village has to inform the city about their problems, and depending on the severity of the issue, the administration will decide on whether it's fit to create a quest for it. Then it's up to which guild to accept it. If the guild does not complete the quest within the given time, they will face a penalty and the quest will be handled by another guild.
Most often, a dragon slaying request will be approved after a quick investigation, and the reward will be handed out straight from the city's treasury. Very rarely do such settlements be able to afford to hire high-ranking adventurers in the first place. In the event they do bring in some compensation, the city will top up from there. City Of Pines is in a much better state now as compared to how it was previously. More on that later as I can hear the dragon flapping its wings in the distance. It will be coming here soon. Guess it's my lucky day.
"Everyone! Hide your cattle and seek shelter immediately! The dragon is coming!" I shouted as loud as I could for everyone to hear.
I immediately headed away from the settlement to look for the clearing that I spotted while I was on the roof. There, flat terrain with minimal vegetation, it's a good place for me to fight. I gazed towards the sky and confirmed that the dragon was approaching the settlement, most likely to steal more food. But the forest should have bigger prey for them to hunt than these small livestock that can barely fill its belly. Something must be riling these dragons to hunt humans, or worse, to eliminate us once and for all.
The dragon flew by, completely ignoring me as it headed straight for the settlement. Fine, I will make you notice me, then.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This is now a common routine for me whenever I prepare myself for combat. I exhaled and opened my eyes, revealing a set of glowing eyes. This puts me in a state called Focused State of Mind. From what I learned during my time in the City of Heliotrope Ixia, this state is called "Ekāgratā," which means to pursue a single object with undisturbed attention. I just call it Concentration for simplicity. Or to be more exact, Perfect Concentration.
Dragons are powerful mythical beings that use all their senses whenever they fly to scan the vast surroundings. This is how they detect presences in their vicinity, from food to foes. Using Perfect Concentration will force its attention solely on me. State of Mind affects the surroundings depending on which state I'm using; all with different effects.
Seems like it worked, glad I didn't have to start throwing my weapons at it. The dragon, affected by my Concentration, is losing control over its flight path now. It tries to aim for the settlement but with all its senses forced to focus on me, it can't even fly properly now. Come on, come to Papa.
*Thuum!!
The dragon crash-landed and skidded across the ground, landing directly in front of me. Even from where I stood, I could smell its acid-coated breath, and man, does it stink badly. I maintained Perfect Concentration and summoned Inazuma with the snap of my fingers. I got ready and was about to charge in to strike when the dragon suddenly started talking to me, putting a pause in my stride.
"You… human. Be… wary of the… Demon King," spoke the dragon as it struggled to form words.
I won't lie, I was certainly taken aback. This had never occurred before. Did I somehow become a dragonborn? Since when can dragons even speak? No less in human tongue. What the hell is going on right now?
"The Demon King? Isn't he dead?" I replied cautiously.
"N— not dead… just… sealed," answered the dragon.
"Why tell me this? Are you asking me to spare your life in exchange for this information? I'm afraid I can't do that since you attacked this settlement and endangered human lives when you can hunt peacefully inside the forest," I told the dragon.
"No… choice… his influence… affects us," spoke the dragon.
I had met the Demon King's influence before, but I assumed that it was just some fragment of his remnant powers. To think it is still strong enough to even affect dragons. Damn it, this is bad news indeed. To think my parents sacrificed their lives just to 'seal' the Demon King. And here I thought they had destroyed him for good.
The dragon kept shaking its head and trashed about. I get the feeling it's losing control of itself. Perhaps the Demon King's influence is fully taking over its mind. I stood at the ready, expecting it to lunge at me at a moment's notice, and as predicted, indeed it did.
The dragon let out a loud shriek that almost broke my Concentration and lunged at me with its mouth wide open, attempting to bite me. I dodged it aside with ease, moving casually as it moved around clumsily. The beauty of using Perfect Concentration is that it sets your mind to be completely focused on the enemy in front of you. Extremely useful in one-on-one situations, but flawed against multiple enemies. Your mind can only focus so much in this state.
The dragon immediately followed up with a swing of its back tail. I leapt onto its back to avoid it and immediately jabbed Inazuma onto the dragon's back as I could pretty much predict what it was going to do next. The dragon immediately began to shake me off by trashing about. I held onto Inazuma as my foothold so I wouldn't fall off.
Fully expecting the dragon to start flying, I was caught off guard when it decided to do the unexpected. The dragon suddenly stopped moving and reared its head, facing the direction where I was.
You've got to be kidding me, is it—planning to use acid breath? Directly onto its back?! Dragons are no doubt able to use their own specific breath, but that does not mean they are immune to it. Sure, they are more resistant to their own breath type, but no sane dragon will be crazy enough to actually use it on their own body.
I quickly released Inazuma and leapt away from the dragon as far as possible, leaving Inazuma on the dragon's back.
And sure enough, the dragon used its breath on itself. This dragon must have lost its sanity for good. I should end this fight quickly before it melts the entire landscape. I quickly resummoned Inazuma by snapping my right fingers again. Running at full speed, I slit the dragon's right front leg, the underbelly, and left leg. The dragon roared in pain from the wounds that I inflicted on it. Not to mention, its own stupidity in melting its own back with its acid breath.
The dragon spread its wings and took flight. I thought it would flee, but it was just hovering above me. Is it planning to body slam me or something? It was then I saw acids building up in its mouth. Not good, the coverage of the breath will level the landscape.
I immediately summoned Inazuma's scabbard and sheathed it. Slotting Inazuma onto my left hip, I readied myself using an Iaido stance. I needed to quickly end this fight before it melts everything nearby. With Perfect Concentration still active, my attack power had amplified. Time for me to end this. I focused on gathering power on my right hand. Upon feeling sufficient power gathered, I unsheathed Inazuma, performing a diagonal slash towards the flying dragon.
"Kirin's Thunderbolt," I mumbled softly. Kirin's horn is famed for being extremely sharp and capable of generating a ridiculous amount of piercing power. I once accidentally sliced off a mountain while using this attack for training. In addition to the lightning generated from Kirin, not many beings are capable of standing up to this Celestial's power.
We had some typical roommate drama in the past, but we eventually came to an agreement. I would take care of and maintain Inazuma to the best of my abilities while making it my primary weapon. In exchange, he would be lending me his powers directly.
I used the bare minimum of his powers, and yet it still sliced through the ground, trees, and thankfully the dragon as well. A massive amount of blood started gushing out from the diagonal wound that it sustained, and it crashed back to the ground. I did not slice it through, as there was no need for such an overkill strength of power.
I walked closer to the dragon to deliver the coup de grâce. The dragon was barely moving at this point and was mostly shaking as it tried to stand up. The dragon moved its eyes to stare at me once again. With its last breath, it spoke these words.
"T—thank you," it rolled its eyes upwards soon after. Guess there's nothing for me to do further.
The dragon is dead, and with it comes more troubling news. The Demon King is returning. Even now, his influence is strong enough to affect even mythical beings such as dragons. No wonder they started to attack settlements or villages out of the blue. I shudder to think what he's capable of when he returns. Perhaps all the four great powers will need to unite again when he returns. See, I told you my story hasn't ended.
Alright, enough of talking to myself. I should wrap things up and return home. I looted the dragon for the heart and some of its claws. Every part of the dragon is extremely valuable, but these will have to suffice. The dragon's heart is the most valuable part of the dragon, which is why I'm looting it right now since there's no way I'm hauling the entire corpse back to the city. The fangs and claws of the dragon will make for excellent weapons, while the hide can be turned into valuable armours. My current cloak is actually made out of red dragonhide soaked in black; I just like roleplaying my guild.
I left the dragon's carcass and proceeded to the settlement to have the mayor officially close this quest. A company that's known for monster corpse retrieval will be helping me to retrieve it later. This company works closely with all the guilds to help in retrieving items or, in my case, a dragon's corpse. It is usually things that adventurers find too troubling to haul back to the city, things that require more manpower and time to retrieve. And of course, they'll get a cut on whatever they retrieve.
Officially ending my quest after the mayor stamped the letter, I wrote two additional letters and tied them up.
"Q, are you there?" I spoke loudly.
Q poked his head out of the ground and stared at me as he made a "kew" sound. Most probably wondering why I suddenly summoned him out of nowhere. Damn, he is just adorable. How cute (O kawaii koto).
I passed all three letters to him. The quest's letter, news for the guildmasters, and the last one for my sensei.
"You know who to send these to, right? Thanks, Q," I said to him.
He burrowed back into the ground as he bit the letters with his mouth.
Yosh, time for me to pick up Daisy from school and head back. I'm sure you have a lot of questions from today's adventure. When did I meet with the Demon King's influence? And who's my sensei? I promise that I will tell you all about it as the story goes along. At least I skipped telling Daisy my first quest. All shall be revealed. Look forward to it.