Chapter 54: Time
🕑 Added 2025-10-04 18:58:53 +0000 UTCAuthor note: Next chapter popping soon. If I have a bonus chapter ready for you by tomorrow, I'll drop it with the new Reader Quest.
Chapter 54: Time
Once Pellin left, Adya made a bit of small talk, which was a rare moment for her. After she left as well, there was a gaping hole where her feelings had once filled. It was amazing to him how fast you could get used to something that once felt so strange.
Things were better between them. Yes, it was odd to be able to feel every bit of emotion coming from a person, but they would adjust to it. Plus…there was something nice about the warmth he felt every time she looked at him. As if a cold day would have no effect as long as they were together.
Cass spent the second half of his day with Kara and the Clerk duo. Their new Pathfinder project moved them to the outer reaches of the Depot, right next to the gate.
There was a series of small shops that could use a sprucing up, and by the time the surveying was done, word had traveled that the Guildies were out and about. They weren’t necessarily mobbed by young Liorans looking for more experience, but the number of questions he had to answer left his mouth dry and his social battery drained by the time they finally got back to the Registry.
Cass used the remainder of the workday to go over his books. There were two that focused on defensive properties beyond small walls, and he wanted to know how they were put together.
The next morning, Adya returned to their breakfast meetings. Rather than send her off to the Depot, Cass made up a Quest that had her scout the Forge for areas that were dilapidated or in need of a happy group of helpers. Neither spoke of the Contract with his two friends, but the emotions bouncing back and forth between them were apparent to anyone with eyes and a hearty jolt of empathy. She’d smile, and after the dose of warmth hit him, it would appear that he’d smile randomly for no reason at all.
It became so intrusive that at some point, he began to wonder where her emotions ended and his began. It was only when she touched his shoulder on the second day after the contract that they understood how the experience sharing worked.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Reserve experience: 42.8: Transferred per Contract requirement to Adya Korring
Requirement reset: 3 days remain until your next required contact.
He hadn’t felt anything, but seeing the screen had been a punch to the gut, for sure. For all that they tried to smile at one another, the guilt coming from her felt like a cresting wave with no top. There was also something else she had to do.
Spend time with Bella.
She broached it with him later that day as she sat behind him in the Annex. “I keep getting a System notice that I need to spend time with your draft horse.”
“Oh?” Cass asked with an unseen smirk.
“It says I need to make contact with her every three days because of our contract. Do you get notices like this all the time?”
That made him turn around, “You don’t?”
“No,” She said with a shake of the head, “The only updates I get are when my marks form or if it has to do with my skills.”
“Interesting. I wonder why everything is so different between our Callings.”
“Who knows?” She said with a shrug heaped in finality.
It appeared she was writing it off as a mystery of the System, but Cass didn’t buy into that. Maybe Moore knows, or even Hollis.
The thought faded into the back of his mind as news of a small fight out near the Red Tower struck the city. There were no casualties, but Cass heard talk of several Liorans being injured and that a strange Driftclaw had been spotted. One that fought with others and was twice the size normally recorded.
The next morning, Adya confirmed that Bella was not her instant fan. The draft horse had apparently given Adya rather strong feelings of jealousy and would not let her enter the stall.
Cass wasn’t surprised; he and Bella shared an extremely powerful bond. If she were to suddenly accept another person into her world, contract or not, he’d have been shocked. But she did let Adya touch her snout for a moment, fulfilling the contract for them both.
The next day was more of the same. As were the following three. Pellin grew more excited each morning. He’d found a mid-level Enchanter to help him out, and had set up a deal that would see them share profits after the cost was taken in. Every morning saw him talking about breakthroughs and enhanced Systemic understanding in jargon’d wording so complex that the rest of them began to mentally tune him out. He would’ve continued all through the morning until Orla would throw a piece of food at him or grumpily talk about losing the Pathfinder contract to a small shop in the west.
Common Solutions received its first applicant for work. A young woman whose Calling was tied to plumbing had been scouted by Rina. Cass hadn’t seen the leatherworker in some time, so as they spoke over lunch, she brought up the possibility of expanding, noting that they had enough funds to take her on at this time.
The interview process was…uncomfortable. Cass had no experience with it, and Moore’s advice had mainly consisted of asking him questions that only turned his mind in loops. But after speaking to the woman about leaving the Commons for Common Solutions, and seeing the effort she’d put in to increase her sales, he found no reason to deny her hiring. Orla saw to it, and Rina sent him a note of thanks.
Pathfinder continued to expand, and Cass had two more Questwebs pop up. He was a little proud of himself for that. He’d designed each Quest to work off the others.
Sweep the street and take it to the bag handler. The bag handler brings it over to the sorting team to determine what can be saved or repurposed for other uses. If it can be repurposed, it goes to Orla, who took a few days off to help as well as ingratiate herself with the local community. She’d send it off to small teams who also had Quests for deliveries, bringing the cost of the venture not quite to zero, but close to it.
As for why she was there. The shops near the gate were high producers of raw materials, so she’d shown up in coveralls with some strategically placed dirt on her cheeks.
“They don’t need to know I grew up in the Stream,” She’d told him with a hearty wink.
The moment the area near the gate was fixed up, Cass transferred the experience to Adya, then they moved on. The Forge’s problems were far more varied than the Depot's. Most of the issues they encountered were not differences, but rather cultural divides.
Shop space in the Forge was at a premium not seen in the side streets and thoroughfare of the Depot. Instead of fixing up shelves and cleaning streets, the Pathfinder team was put to work solving problems rooted in territorialism and bad blood.
Thankfully, he had two happy, smiling Clerks who were experts at dealing with angry people. And when they were unable to solve the problem, Cass threw Kara in like a bomb to blow up both sides.
Instead of cleaning Quests and short construction projects, he went to work designing and implementing new forms of Administrative elements. He also spent a considerable amount of time with Diplomatic Quests. Their design was unique in that everything was tied to the outcome.
[Quest Ledger Entry: CV-0001-L-LIA]
Quest Title: Shared Water
Assigned Questors: Clerk Chancey and Clerk Brendan
Quest Objective:
Mediate an ongoing territorial dispute between the Ironweave Smiths and Johnson’s Fabricates concerning access to a well placed between the two shops.
Interview both parties and record accurate operational needs
Clerk Brendan will go to the Public Archives for historical documentation of well rights
Clerk Chancey will attempt to assuage any emotional disturbances that crop up between the Ironweave Smiths and Johnson’s Fabricates
Report the perceived outcome to Guild Trainer Kara and QuestWright Cassio, who will propose the final contract backed by Clerk’s Moore and Rueda
(Optional): If there is a perceived long-term collaboration possible between the two shops, it should be the focus of the Quest due to its ability to reduce future tensions.
Status: Active
Questor XP Awarded: +18 XP (Divided among all willing participants)
QuestWright XP Awarded: +1.8 XP
System Reputation: +4
Modifier:
Multi-party Negotiation (+100%)
Multi-level Criteria (+100%)
Complexity (+100%)
Delivery Addition (+50%)
Resource Sharing (+10%)
What had started as a simple conversation between two shop leaders exploded into as complicated a Quest as he’d ever created. He wasn’t shocked when it bumped up into becoming Tier 3, nor what followed after.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Bonus granted for creating your first Tier 3 Quest:
1 free minor node unlock
Initiate QuestWright Achievement progress:
10/12
His work with Diplomacy didn’t stop there. Property lines came into effect, apprenticeship poaching popped up, and one odd noise complaint having to do with a simple man trying to learn to play the banjo. That was one of the odder Quests he’d ever designed.
Tier 1 Diplomacy Quest
Jack Martin. Liora and the members of the Forge understand your need for practice, and that the Banjo is a misunderstood musical element. You have made that clear multiple times. However, the noise from your performance is loud enough to disturb the sleep and calm of the neighbourhood you call home.
As such, you are given the Quest of going…elsewhere. Just, anywhere else that isn’t within earshot of so many people. I mean, come on, man. You know what I’m saying.
Try it for a week.
Expected experience: 5xp
Cassio Vale
Liora Guildhall
QuestWright
He’d lost his cool when writing it, something he hadn’t done in some time. Not only that, but he also lost his cool the next morning when Adya needed a new Quest drafted. She’d started the morning off by telling him she’d been drafted to help scout around the Red Tower, something she could feel that he didn’t like.
But he couldn’t control her, and trying to would only stir up bad feelings in both of them. So, he made the Quest, extending the time limit by a few days and increasing its complexity.
Tier 2 Scouting Quest
Adya Korring. We have enough information for our work in the Forge to last several weeks. Because you have done such beautiful, safe work, your next assignment is more complicated.
While keeping a close eye on those who might be following you, go to the Stream and look for anything amiss. That can be fights that spring up out of the blue (don’t fight, please). It can be a focus on price gouging and an abundance of wares not commonly seen. It can also be anything strange you find near the docks.
Word from on high says that several potential Changelings have been scouted in the area (don’t fight them!). See what you can figure out.
Cassio Vale (your partner)
Liora Guildhall
QuestWright
He hadn’t liked how it had turned out, but she snatched it from his hands before he could think about changing things. With a shake of his head and a gentle pat on his shoulder, she glowed, then left the cafeteria.
Knowing she was out there threw off his whole day after that. He was short with his Clerk friends, pushed back at Kara on simple things that didn’t need to be fought over, and even Mr. Moore got a taste of his bad attitude. The Maestro had raised an eyebrow when looking at the drafted Quests Cass had dropped off. Each was written pointedly, with several notes about how to be safe, even when doing something as innocuous as delivering cheese to a local baker.
Cass wanted to blame Adya, but he couldn’t. This was his problem, and he recognized it with a wisdom well beyond his age. Adya was a Combatant, not an Administrator. She was going to have jobs like this, or worse, in the future. At least this time around, he knew she had support in the area.
The Maestro tutted as he looked them over twice, but took them nonetheless.
Then word came down again. Right as Cass was finishing up a series of Quests and preparing to head out to the Forge, a message came for him. Adya was fine, but his sister wasn’t. Janine had been injured, though she’d make a full recovery. The note said she was located in the GoldenCrown infirmary and didn’t want any visitors.
Cass shook his head. Things were getting worse.
