[center][h1]~Quest: Start!~[/h1][/center] The cowboy stared for a moment, with his blank black eyes from the mask simply lingering on Totsurugi, until they sighed and got up. [color=#40D2BA]"Well, if that's your decision then it's your decision. But you really could have gotten a lot from this you know?"[/color] He shook his head. I responded with a brief smile and a wave of my hand. [color=#68BCDD]"Hey you heard her. No hard feelings of course, maybe I'll pass by sometime, with the others and everything."[/color] The masked cowboy turned to me and just remained in that position for an awkward moment, before letting out a hearty laugh. [color=#40D2BA]"Really? That would be awesome, I'm sure everyone would be really motivated to have you all watching over. And if you actually participated, we might even get new members just from that!"[/color] [color=#68BCDD]"You're exaggerating."[/color] I forced a laugh. [color=#40D2BA]"Maybe a little. But I wouldn't be able to tell exactly by how much."[/color] He shrugged and pulled himself away from the table. As if on cue, the bunny girl lept out of the kitchen with a loud "PYOOOOOON!", literally spinning in our direction while the tray in her hand spun with her, and the food miraculously remained on it, shaking but never even leaving its containers. As the bunny girl approach, the cowboy turned around and taking a couple steps before raising one hand to wave with his back still turned to us. [color=#40D2BA]"Enjoy your meal."[/color] [color=orange]"One large ice coffee and a triple house sweet bread pyon, and a Riebo&Tanzo sandwhich plus tea pyon!"[/color] Declared the bunny girl, head still bobbing side to side from the spinning, as she slammed the tray onto our table. She proceeded to remove our food and drinks from it and nodded with a large semi-sleepy smile before retiring to the kitchen. There was no denying the two sets of food were indeed [i]unique[/i]. On one side, there was a huge mug, with engraved metal on the outside with several heroic depictions of adventures, similar to a Greek vase, while the inside was like green glass, and was filled to the brim with brown ice. It was accompanied by a medium-sized plate with pair of brown-ish/yellow-ish round breads to which my gaze was fixated. I couldn't help leaning in a bit and smelling that crusty surface to take in the sweet warm scent, which would reveal that soft inside. On the other end, there was a simple yet elegant teacup with a flowery pattern across a line on the upper part of the cup. It was served on a small plate, and were was a tiny jug, small enough it could fit in the teacup, labeled "seconds" by a plate attached to the handle with a string. It was, in turn, accompanied by a bread which had several points where it raised and contorted slightly, resembling crab legs. It was decorated in these red fruits with the shape of cucumbers around and some over the bread and the white seeds within. The inside of the burger had lettuce and some manner of meat, looking barely cooked at all. Despite the appearance, there were still some envious looks from some neighboring tables. I shrugged it off, as I was preoccupied with something of far greater importance: My own meal. I took up one of my breads and ate a good fourth, nearly a third of the thing at once, despite it being far larger than my own hand. My cheeks were swollen like a squirrel's, sure, but my eyes closed as I felt the bliss rushing through me. It was just right amount of warmth, and the feeling of the soft bread in my mouth was like a dreamy cloud was being compressed in it. The sounds, the images around me felt like they were fading and blurring as I just focused myself on devouring that delicacy, with the occasional large gulp of my drink in-between. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [color=#68BCDD]"Aaaaaaaah..."[/color] I wasn't quite sure if that sound could be described as a "said", but it still came out of my lips while I patted my belly with a content smile. I glanced over to Totsurugi. [color=#68BCDD]"Now THAT was a nice meal, ey? That place never disappoints."[/color] I stopped for a moment, and sighed. [color=#68BCDD]"Alright, you said you wanted to try power leveling right? I suppose Beardo will do for starters, his items are all blues are least. The best way would probably be to use a small questchain leading to a farming location. The Squarefields quests maybe?"[/color] I closed my eyes and scratched my beard for a moment, before nodding to myself and looking at Totsurugi again. [color=#68BCDD]"Yeah that should work. Come with me!" [/color] I swung my arm forward in a large motion to follow. We first made our way through the streets again, houses around us gradually shifting from that well-kept white rock into being increasingly made of dirty granular rock, covered in moss and vines, and even an increasing amount of exposed wood. The road we traveled could be less and less described as a 'road' as it became just a less muddy part of the unkept ground. We came to a stop in front of a building with three wooden walls with traces of crumbled rock on some bits, especially at the base which seemed to be entirely made of them, though the only reason why the rest of the building wasn't virtually see-through was due to a layer of leather on the inside, covering the walls. Said walls were collapsed toward the center, thus though there here only three of them, they made a sort of hut-like shape, with the front having a typical tavern door and the back having a wooden shed coming out like a tail. [color=#68BCDD]"Now Totsu, I need you to open your menu and find the part that says "available quests", then go to "kingdom quests"."[/color] Following the menu that way would lead to a parchment-like miniscreen with a list of rectangles one could scroll through labeled "kingdom quest: (quest name)". [color=#68BCDD]"Go to the quest called 'Unusual Tourists'. Accept it."[/color] [quote] To any who would heed the call of his majesty the king, and pledge their services for the good of the kingdom, Rumors have been circulating of strange newcomers to our towns, found to be coming through lowtown. As they do not, by all appearances, pose a danger to the well-being or safety of the people, the law has elected to not forbid them entrance. Their origin and numbers, however, are perplexing, and an unease has reached the ears of the king. Any who have information to share on this matter are welcome to step forth at your local guard stations for review and collection. Verifiable and important information will be rewarded accordingly. -Saryu Jeeves, royal proclaimer. - - - - - - - - - - - - Objectives: Inquire the estranged of midtown for information on the refugees. Rewards: 22 Silver Pieces; 20 XP [/quote] [color=#68BCDD]"Ordinarily, you would have accepted that quest first, and gone around asking the NPCs for info, and they would have told us to get a certain beverage. You can only find that beverage in this bar anyway though, so by starting here we can save ourselves the trouble of going back and forth. So, shall I do the honors, or would you like to brave in first?"[/color] Regardless, we went inside. The place seemed like an ordinary bar, if unclean and lit by a something akin to a lantern behind the bar. Most of the clients looked like stereotypical bandits, including eyepatches, playing around with knives for no reason and being dressed in rags. There was also a typical old man talking to a young woman dressed in a rather risque fashion, and of course a couple of cloaked figures at the counter. The bartender himself was wearing a large vest made from a bear pelt. In typical fashion he was cleaning a mostly clean-looking mug with a dirty-looking piece of cloth, but looked up as we arrived, then nodded. [color=#68BCDD]"Asking him for the [color=#23C126][Jove's Welcoming Stew][/color]."[/color] I whispered to Totsurugi. "How can I help?" The bartender asked when Totsurugi approached. He nodded at the request. "Yeah, yeah, wait that many? I didn't know my beer was famous enough for some rich [b][ELF][/b] [b][GIRL][/b]! Right, coming right up!" Right as the bartender turned around to get the beer, one of the man in rags, who also had a small blue pendant hanging from his neck and a couple of copper rings on both of his ring fingers slammed one of the cloaked figures, who fell to the floor while clenching their cloak rather than protecting themselves from the fall. "YOU WHAT? Lying RAT!" screamed out the man with the pendant. [color=darkblue]"I-I can't do what..."[/color] the cloaked figure responded meekly, with a surprisingly deep and refined voice, though a bit dry as well. However, the other man was already stomping towards him with a furious expression. Words appeared in front of Totsurugi in their mind. [quote]A fight has broke out! The bartender can't work under these conditions, and the beverages you came to collect might be ruined if they hit one. Maybe you should break up the fight?[/quote]