Cass tried not to let the intrusive thoughts in after he woke up. Though they had settled in the night, this morning and what was to come were different. So he decided to pretend.

  He pretended that it was just any other day.

  Any other day.

  Any other day where someone could sense his feelings as if he’d spoken them out loud. Any other day where darkness was trying to destroy the city he loved and believed in. Any other day that he didn’t have to go and meet a horse, who may one day have a Calling and most certainly needs a talking to.

  Yep, it was any other day.

  He gave himself a grimace in the mirror after brushing his teeth, then slipped on a fresh robe and sat back down on the bed. There were notifications to go through, and he felt that he was now emotionally ready for the next part of understanding the contract.

  [SYSTEM NOTICE]

  25 Quests were completed

  7 Experimental Quests were completed

  2 Experimental Quests failed

  Total xp gained: 15.1

  Total System reputation gained: 32

  Total Stalwart marks gained: 2

  Total Survivor marks gained: 1

  Your reputation with the draft-horse, Bella, has increased by 20

  Your reputation with various companies has increased

  Your reputation with the Liora City Council has increased by 25

  Your reputation with the Liora Guildhall has increased by 50

  Details can be found in your Quest Ledger.

  Note: All gained experience has been held in reserve for Adya Korring per your contract

  Trying not to get depressed by the loss of promised experience, Cass sighed. He wasn’t surprised to see his reputation with Bella had gone up, but he was interested in why the City Council thought much more highly of him than before.

  “The walls,” He said to himself with a shake of his head. The Guild Master had given him credit for the wall repairs as a major reason things weren’t worse than they could be. That would’ve gone a long way with a group charged with protecting and managing the city.

  As for the companies and the considerable increase with the Guidlhall, that’s likely just from seeing him in yesterday’s meeting. The group had been selective and potent. Even if he was a back chair behind the Guild Master, his presence had a meaning all on its own.

  Stepping into the experience screen, he looked at the first node he’d ever seen.

  Calling: QuestWright Apprentice: Cassio Vale

  Level: 8

  Experience Accrued: 2269.31

  Experience Required for Next Level: 430.69

  Unspent Experience: 258.81

  Total Stalwart Tokens: 35

  Total Survivor Tokens: 40

  “Two thousand experience is not a paltry sum,” He said to himself, pulling the word paltry from one of the books the Guild Master had given him. “Hell, everything I’ve earned since the beginning would barely pay for unlocking Tactician.” It made him briefly wonder why the experience and level cap were so apparent on a path that would be required in a world filled with monsters. Though he’d unlocked it in a special way, this was one of the few times the System didn’t make any sense to him.

  The Stalwart tokens had snuck up on him again. Every time he performed his multiple dailies, he’d be so tired after that he forgot to think about it. But then he ran into moments like this, where unspent currency languished without expenditure.

  But that wasn’t what he was here for.

  After the Contract had hit, six marks had appeared, with a larger one near the top. The System didn’t call them nodes, and each had a style to it that was hard to pin down. The first one, the smallest in the grouping, was almost shaped like an eye. If an eye had been blurred and someone had dashed their hand through the image shortly after forming. Though…its shape did vaguely remind him of the Inspection path now that he looked at it.

  Naturally, that made him lament the loss of the Weakness ability it had brought him. Its appearance had been random and not something he’d altogether noticed without trying, but it was still an ability that would’ve paid dividends over the years.

  No progress without sacrifice, Cass thought to himself. It was an old motto his mother liked to repeat during their former training sessions. He cleared his mind, then looked at the other marks.

  The second, third, fourth, and fifth were all different shapes. A vague hand, an angled beak of a nose. And as he focused on the smallest, writing appeared below it as the image expanded in his vision.

  The Watchful Eye

  Choice Locked:

  Facial expressions and gestures will become more apparent to you.

  Passively adds extra details to the Profile ability.

  System note: Currently unavailable due to an unbalanced contract.

  Not knowing what to think of that, he clicked on the hand next. Its form was almost like a claw reaching up toward the sky.

  Touchpoint

  2/4 Choices available:

  Your body will become more attuned to vibrations

  Passively adds extra details to the Profile ability.

  System note: Currently unavailable due to an unbalanced contract.

  “Huh,” Cass said with a scratch of his chin. If the marks are giving me more observation-like increases, which is something I would expect of a Calling like Scout, then I wonder what Adya is getting. Paperwork fluency?

  Mentally laughing to himself, Cass looked around a bit more. No matter how much he tried to focus on it, the final Mark didn’t give him any information. He sighed before writing it off. Based on the system note, he wouldn’t be able to do anything until Adya hit level eight. That meant he had some work to do, and staring at options that were unavailable wouldn’t help him much.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  It was a habit he’d noticed in others that he refused to allow in himself. Be happy with what you currently have, not what you want, but is ultimately out of reach. Then again, ambition was lauded everywhere, and reaching higher was something taught in the lowest level of schools. His mother had often said-

  He stopped the mental acrobats before they started to spiral. The day was getting on, and there was xp to be had. Just not for him.

  Getting to Bella was an easy affair. For the most part, the Guildhall was almost deserted, with many men and women of the companies currently deployed around the Red Tower. It would be an easy bet to win if he gambled on Janine and the Fabulous Five already being there.

  Taking stock of the empty barn, Cass walked up to an obviously excited Bella. He could tell not just because of the sounds she made as she jumped around, but because the large ball of enthusiasm was currently sending him enough warmth to light up a bonfire. He steeled himself and prepared to dress down his companion.

  But that obviously wasn’t going to happen.

  “Hey girl,” Cass said with a prepared speech in mind. But the accusations of impetuousness and his stoked anger at how the draft horse had handled the contract died when her liquid eyes met his own. With a shake of his head, he rubbed the top of her head, “You kind of suck sometimes.”

  She stomped her foot in denial, but he felt her laughter through the bond.

  Cass took a deep breath, “This is going to take some getting used to.”

  Starting up the first Stalwart Quest of the day, he started a new exponential Quest, pushing his body beyond the last record by a clear margin. His lightly enhanced senses were difficult to manage as he clearly heard the bellows of his lungs work during the Quest. The taste of hot spit in his mouth, the clarity with which the straw on the floor drew his eye. Cass was forced to constantly take brief pauses as he adjusted to a body that was better than it had been the morning prior.

  As the burn faded into his muscles while he internally smiled at beating his last record, he copied the standard Daily Quest and performed a new Intermediate set.

  [Stalwart Way Exponential Daily Quest Complete]

  Rewards: 9.6 xp, 3 Stalwart Tokens, 2 Survivor Tokens

  Note: Rewards increase based upon recorded gains…

  [Stalwart Way Daily Quest Complete]

  Rewards: 8.4xp, 2 Stalwart Tokens, 1 Survivor Token

  Pain is in the Proof activating…

  +1 Survivor Token

  Note: All gained experience has been held in reserve for Adya Korring per your contract

  As he caught his breath, he noticed Bella’s worried feelings for the first time. Worry and curiosity. “Haven’t I explained…why…I do this?” He said between gulps of air. “It makes me stronger.”

  The worry faded as the draft horse’s curiosity rose. Bending down, she picked herself up. Then again…and again. He didn’t understand what she was trying until it clicked.

  “Bella,” He said, holding back a fit of giggles as the burn continued to settle. “Bella…I don’t think horses can do pushups.”

  A stomp of her foot and what he could only call disagreement came through the bond. Shaking his head, Cass dove into the Survivor path to pick a step that had stood out to him for a time. It was located just beyond his last unlock.

  [Stalwart Supercharge]

  -Function Unlock-

  Once per day, you can increase a Survivor Quest’s difficulty to twice its normal value.

  Cost to Unlock: 20 Stalwart Tokens

  Finalizing it, he caught his breath and didn’t look forward to what he was going to attempt tomorrow. But that was a problem for future Cass.

  It was quick getting to the cafeteria. Both Orla and Pellin were the same, but sadly, Adya was missing. Neither asked about her, which he found odd, but Orla did slide across several glittering coins.

  “Your profit for last week! That’s over thirty glittering Crests! Look at them. Look at the glitter!” Her smile was infectious as she munched on a round piece of bread with jam spread across it. “Oh, I love money so very much. If it were a person, I’d marry it.”

  “If experience were a person, you’d marry it too,” Pellin commented, re-arranging his drink with a glare when Orla moved it with a big smile.

  “That’s because money are levels for Merchants. You know that.”

  “No, in fact, I didn’t,” Pellin said, taking a sip from his drink. His foot tapped on Cass’s own, who was currently lost in thought. “Hey, did you think about my problem some more?”

  “What?’ Oh, no, sorry.” Cass said, scratching the back of his head. He’d been distracted because Profile had been updating as his friends spoke. “But I’ll think on it, I promise.”

  Pellin nodded at him, “Please do.” When he looked away from Cass, he found Orla’s seat empty. That’s because she currently had her elbows on the table and her body only inches away from his own.

  “So…what’s your problem?” She said with a curious look, hands holding up her face.

  “Nothing! Go away, devil woman! Go find your money!”

  Cass made it over to the Registry with a few minutes to spare before his starting time. Moore was behind the desk, with a young woman who couldn’t be past twenty already glowing gold. She nodded at the man and walked away with a smile.

  “One of your new Pathfinders,” Moore said by way of greeting. “She passed the test yesterday, of which I hear you were conspicuously absent. Seven passed if you were curious.”

  “Yes, sir,” Cass said, his back going a little rigid at the man’s tone. “I apologize, I had something that needed to be handled.”

  “Ah,” Moore nodded, “So you accepted Ms. Korring’s proposal. And? Was it everything you wanted it to be?”

  Why am I not shocked that he knows? Do I tell him? How much of this should really be kept secret?

  When Moore noticed him stalling, he smiled, “Good. I’m happy to see the little secret that Gerald passed along is sticking in your mind. But you don’t have to worry. Linked paths cannot be taken, only released. Also, if you’re worried that I may not be who I seem.”

  He reached under the desk and lifted up a small silver disk. Putting it down, his finger slid over the center until it depressed with an audible click. A small bolt of blue electricity fired up and ran over his hand for a brief moment. He held it up for Cass to see that his skin hadn’t changed in the slightest.

  “It’s not quite as reliable as a powerful Calling, but it works in a pinch. The Capital sent a few with a very fast runner. But at least you’ll have peace of mind that not everyone you see is a Changeling.”

  “I can see that…” Cass started to consider how much he should say when Moore held up a hand.

  “Please do not stress about telling me anything to do with your contract. As far as I or anyone else is concerned, that’s only for you and your partner to know.”

  Partners, Cass mentally amended.

  Moore nodded toward the Annex, “There’s a collection of petitions in there for you to review. Also, a letter arrived from the Meister Brickworks that I set aside for you. I believe it may have to do with the Quest you independently created yesterday.”

  “About that-”

  “What Quests are designed by a QuestWright out of their own Quota is their prerogative,” Moore interrupted. “If Kara hasn’t taught you that much, then she needs a stern talking to. But if you begin to burn through too many vellums, we may run into a supply problem.”

  “Yes, sir,” Cass replied with a nod, and at Moore’s return nod, he walked to the Annex.

  The stack of Petitions waiting for him had to take a breather as a small envelope sat beside it. Sitting down as the map appeared, Cass opened it. That’s when two silver Crests jingled upon his desk.

  Not knowing what that was about, he started to read. It was written by the owner of Meister Brickworks and detailed what processes they went through to create bricks with the recent sand shortage that had struck Liora. The letter informed him of how they followed the process he’d proposed, and the complications that had arisen from using different materials than they had before. There was also a bit of praise thrown his way, as well as at the Questor who picked up the ground-up concrete. A young ornery man named Holt. Cass chuckled to himself.

  The letter ended by speaking about the twenty Crests being his percentage of the profit they’d made from delivering a brick contract to the Liora City Council on time, something they weren’t sure was possible until his information had arrived.

  It made Cass think about his three rules.

  Quests should never be about money and should be something that not only impacts Liora in a good way, but the Questor as well. But what about a situation like this, where the money was delivered not by request or requirement, but purely as a side effect of his work helping others? That was a conundrum.

  He’d come up with the three rules when first receiving his Calling. Twice before, those rules had been held up to scrutiny. First, when Noah had asked about trading the experience from additional Quests in exchange for his axe, and second, when Common Solutions had received the Pathfinder contract. He’d declined the first and had no part in the second, leaving the bidding to Orla as the Merchant Founder of their Enterprise.

  This wasn’t much different, but it did make him think. Holt used his Calling to make money as a blacksmith. His father did the same as a Chef, Gary, a Baker. So was it naive to think he couldn’t sell Quests? That he shouldn’t have an additional income?

  Not that he needed the money. From Orla’s thirty Crests this morning to the fifty he earned week to week and now this, he was far from destitute. But still, those two shining silver coins in front of him felt off.

  Picking them up, he placed them in a side-pouch within his ever-present bag, his fingers briefly touching the monster-blood-covered vellum. Now that he looked within, Cass realized that there were only two clean vellums left after all of his Quests, so he replenished them from his stockpile in the Annex desk.

  As soon as that was done and he began to focus on the Petitions, he felt a growing fireball of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. He felt a flush come unbudden to his face. The feeling had arrived all of a sudden and without warning, building up in intensity the longer it sat there. Then he heard her voice.

  “Hey.”

  [Tier 1 Experimental Quest]

  Assignment: Delay the Reward

  Your Task:

  Choose one small thing you enjoy:

  A favorite snack

  A show you’ve been waiting to watch

  A saved post

  A comfort habit you reach for on reflex

  Intentionally delay it by 24 hours.

  choice. You are testing the edges of your own will.

  Rules:

  You must set the item or trigger in front of you.

  You must name the delay aloud.

  You must wait the full duration, no substitutions.

  Completion Condition:

  Reward visibly delayed. Time endured. Control retained.

  Timeframe: One week

  Reward: 7 XP

  can stop.

  J.D. Mullenary Sr.

  The Original QuestWright