Chapter 25: That quest
1006 Words
The party has just arrived at the Guildhall and there's already a ruckus that is going on early in the morning.
"Let us move in! We are in a hurry!" Arion cramped himself in the crowd in an attempt to find what is the mages in the guild were clustering for. They were all surrounding a mage that is battered from his previous quest, his limbs were covered in tattered clothes that garnered everyone's attention.
"What happened to him?" An elf from the crowd asked.
"Don't you know? Apparently, he's the only one who survived 'that' quest." A friend of the elf answered.
"Oh, you mean 'that' quest? I couldn't believe someone dared to even sign the parchment of 'that' quest." The elf remarked.
"Hey, did that guy just repeated 'that' quest twice? What were they talking about?" Arion elbowed Adriel standing next to him, and on the other side is Lilith who's all fidgety.
In order to grasp the situation much better, Adriel herself stepped up and seized the attention of everyone present in the lobby.
"Silence! Make space for my party members." Adriel asserted dominance and they noticed it was the Jade Princess' who requested the command.
The group of mages encompassing the wounded person disperse into their respective tasks and obligation. Those who are getting in their way made a path for her so she can see clearly who's the person amidst them.
However, she widened her eyes in surprise upon recognizing his face. "Wait, is that you Calix? Just what happened here? Is it true you accepted 'that' quest?" It seems the Jade Princess is well aware of the wounded person. She came and sat near him while showing she truly cares for his well-being.
Arion scanned his entire equipment, he's wearing what it appears to be a mage garment of red ornamental diamonds as his necklace and unlike the other mages, his weapon is a silver sword and buckler on his forearm.
Guessing from his stature and long ears, his race should be elf evident from the necklace he's wearing; it has a crystal stone pendant just like any of the other elves wears.
"It's too late... our kingdom will be overthrown! It's even dumb to think we had the chance on completing the mission..." Despite Calix's boldness of using melee weapons considering he's a mage, right now, he's weeping in front of everyone explicating just how excruciating the experience he underwent.
"Wait, who is he? I mean not his name, but his social status." Arion inquired without disrupting his dramatic scene.
"Don't you know? He's Calix, the party master whose members were all Magister, an S-Class fire sorcerer." Adriel answered.
Now that he knows his name, it's time for him to learn what caused his injury since he's irritably curious about the quest they were speaking about from earlier ago. He couldn't tell if it's a dead-flat dangerous commission or a suicide mission, he's curious because it might have a connection regarding his missing girlfriend whose name is still unknown, and the other two prodigies who reincarnated together with him.
"I remembered your name now." Arion acted as if he knew him based on gossips. "Now, mind telling us 'that' quest?" He followed up and made sure the phrase 'that quest' rings a bell.
Without even telling the true title of the quest and the mere insinuation of it makes Calix shivers in pain to the point he's embracing himself under extreme epiphora. His eyes were restlessly looking left and right, his legs were shaking like there's no tomorrow; he lost all hope and reasoning.
It's also the moment when Arion noticed his status information along with a piece of information he had never seen before upon looking at his companion's navigation panel.
Name: Calix
Level: 45
Class: Fire Sorcerer
Rank: Sorcerer
HP: 1123
MP: 2342
Wisdom: 60%
Strength: 20%
Dexterity: 10%
Luck: 10%
Debuffs: Paranoia
The symbol of skull overcast amidst shadow was what he could see on the icon of the Debuff called 'Paranoia' and he immediately figured it out when he skimmed through his memory.
Arion still remembered that when he dueled with Adriel in the lobby of the Guildhall, he also noticed the notification warning when his opponent invoked a spell called Permafrost Trails, a spell that leaves a trail of cold path slowing those who are inflicted.
It means the slow and the frozen are states or Debuffs that hinder those who are affected and therefore it's a bad idea when it's not taken care of. Normally, he still remembers when used to play role-playing games, which has this concept and functionality.
Acting normal and all, Arion elbowed Adriel again and asked her. "Hey, what do you think is the kind of spell that can inflict paranoia?"
She turned her head in a jerk and yanked both Lilith and him in a corner whispering. "What? Do you also think Calix is struck by paranoia? It seems my deductions were correct."
"Why are we whispering? Is there something wrong–" Before he could say anything or Lilith could react to it–Adriel seized them once again; they returned to where they were standing earlier ago.
"Tragedy is truly not my thing... I mourn for the fallen mages who were with you until the end.. and so, I believe we can end this nightmare once and for all." She sounded so confident and gestured her hands.
The quest board where all the posted missions were hanged have been flown by the unchanging wind of pure nature, and amongst the quest parchment that was hanged, only one got out from being tucked, and that certain quest parchment was guided and landed on Adriel's palm.
"No... don't tell me you're going to accept 'that' quest?!" Calix's line of vision intertwined as he almost went insane.
"Yes... we're going to accept 'that' quest! I will never let anyone suffer anymore." Adriel gallantly declared.
Arion who's scratching his scalp was confused and exclaimed in a condescending tone. "Just what is 'that' quest?!"
The four Goddesses witnessed Arion and the rest of the reincarnated find the first step of the true ordeal they must face, and so the great inventor will find his resolution concerning 'that' quest they were spouting since they entered the Guildhall.
- Writer
