Chương 15: The First Quest

Quests were a common trope in a lot of games, and adventure books. So, considering the absurd day she'd had so far, Scarlet wasn't even surprised when she saw the notification. This didn't even make the top ten most bizarre things she had experienced in just the past four hours. However, just because this new quest feature felt mundane compared to teleporting mice and mutated raccoons with sonic attacks, didn't mean it wasn't immensely significant.

Just what was this whole quest thing about, and what exactly would it mean for her to accept it?

"It's always good to read the fine print," Scarlet muttered as she focused on the notification. The simple prompt unfolded, and the full quest description revealed itself. [Quest: Establish a Safe Zone] [Description: During the post-Integration 'Adaptation Phase', increasing mana saturation will give rise to progressively higher-tier entities. Establish and secure a settlement zone to impose regional stability and suppress hostile incursion.] [Time Limit: 7 'Earth' Days] [Objectives: Eliminate hostile threats within designated boundary Secure primary claim of designated area Maintain control of settlement zone for 30 consecutive hours Optional sub-objectives may appear] [Base Rewards: Pillar of Establishment Administrative Rights (valid during Earth's Post-Integration Seclusion) Token of Ascendance Additional Rewards: Variable based on performance] [Would you like to accept this quest?] [Yes | No] She fully read through it, her gaze moving steadily from line to line. She could feel her mind picking apart everything she had just read. Briefly, she glanced over at Maus who had already curled himself into a ball on his fuzzy, little pillow. His eyes; half-closed. His mind; quite empty.

"Good for you buddy," she said, and genuinely meant it. There was no point in both of them having terribly high blood pressure. She idly wondered if that was something VIT could fix. Then her eyes flicked back to the quest.

"Okay," she said, drawing the word out. She rubbed her knuckles against the bridge of her nose. Then she stood and crossed the short distance to her chaise lounge, picking up a new pad of paper and a different pen on her way, and feeling quite vindicated about her small stationary-purchasing vice.

"Okay," she said again. She read the quest a second time, making notes about some of the terms and objectives. What is this 'Adaptation Phase'? She queried the Guide. [The Adaptation Phase follows world Initialization. During this period, the newly integrated world undergoes continued systemic adjustment. Mana distribution remains unstable as saturation rapidly increases, while environmental and biological changes continue to develop. Outcomes during this phase may significantly influence long-term development]"Okay…" She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists before releasing the tension with a deep breath. Then she made a whole bunch more notes on her writing pad before she queried the Guide again. What was post-Integration seclusion? [Newly integrated worlds receive a 12-year seclusion period during which external factions cannot directly interfere] Scarlet went still. And what did it mean by 'cannot directly interfere…'

Did that mean they could indirectly interfere? The guide did not respond. She straightened slightly as the implication settled in. So, this confirmed it. If the Guide was telling the truth – and why would it lie? – then there were definitely other intelligent lifeforms out there. She'd already sort of come to that conclusion. It had been a theory for her even pre-Initialization. What happens after the seclusion period? She queried the Guide.

[Upon conclusion of the post-Integration seclusion period, Earth becomes vulnerable to direct interference from external system-integrated factions, including contestation of non-soulbound planetary holdings] This was more than just confirmation; it was a notification. It was only a matter of time before the people of Earth met other intelligent lifeforms. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. She let that sit for a moment as she made notes.

"Good to know, good to know, good to know." She took more deep breaths, and covered her face with her hands, the tips of her fingers massaging outwards along her brow ridge. When she was ready, she picked her pen back up and continued to query the Guide. What was a soulbound holding? The Guide didn't respond. She waited a beat, then exhaled softly.

"Right," she said, not bothering to press further. She had enough to think about anyway.

"Twelve years," she murmured, her fingers tapping against her thigh. In her mind, she turned the number over. Earth had twelve years to get its act together before these so-called external factions showed up and started taking an interest in Earth… Or just taking from Earth. She'd read enough history and watched enough movies to know that 'contestation and acquisition' of land and resources was rarely voluntary, and even more rarely peaceful. Twelve years was not a long time.

Not on a historical scale, or a planetary scale, and certainly not if people were expected to go from ordinary civilians to something capable of holding territory against whatever the System considered competition. She pulled the quest back up and scanned through its contents again. For humanity, phase one of that twelve-year window was presumably establishing safe zones, locking down territory, and creating footholds for humanity within a wildly chaotic, and rapidly changing world.

Her pen hovered over the page, then stilled as another thought clicked into place. She was probably not the only one who received this quest. At the very least, she likely was not the only one who got something like it. She felt her eyelid twitch and supressed whatever feeling that was before it could fully manifest. It had been easier to suppress than she'd thought it would be. Was her Empathy skill helping her regulate her own emotions?

She made a note to experiment with that at a time when she wasn't potentially racing with who knew how many other people to establish a safe zone. She wanted more information, she always wanted more information, but she wanted first mover's advantage more. So, she asked a more immediate question. What constituted a settlement zone? [A minimum viable settlement zone must be at least a five-kilometre radius from designated anchor point] A five-kilometre radius.

Thanks to her INT stat, she didn't need a map to help her understand the scale. She pulled out her phone and pulled up a map app anyway. It helped to see it. To turn it from an abstract into something tangible. 5km was not small. This pillar would be establishing a settlement zone that was more than just a single building, or even a block. The minimum viable size was an area the size of a town. A proper one. Something that would encompass roads, structures, terrain, and landmarks.

Things she could not control with a locked door, a drone camera, and a bit of foresight.

"All right," she said quietly, tapping on her leg with her fingers. All of those were problems for later. She moved on to the rewards section. A Pillar of Establishment. According to the Guide, the pillar is what granted administrative rights to the safe-zone, and by finishing the quest those rights would automatically belong to her. Then there was the last item. A Token of Ascendance, she read. What was that?

[Information restricted to token holders] Scarlet's lips pressed together, and for a moment she said nothing at all. At least it hadn't told her she needed to advance before it said anything. Slowly, something in her expression shifted. A subtle but unmistakable change. That tiny spark of curiosity, of ambition, of hunger for this forbidden knowledge flared. Now that spark burned a little brighter. A little hotter.

"Well," she said, turning her head just enough to glance at Maus, "how do you feel about a challenge?" She asked Maus. Her feelings were passing through the bond unfiltered, carrying that spark with them. Maus responded immediately. A wash of warmth, a flicker of excitement, a quiet, steady pulse of determination that had nothing to do with ambition, and everything to do with wanting to help. Scarlet let out a small breath, some of the tension easing from her shoulders.

"Thank you, dear," she murmured. The team had decided. [Would you like to accept this quest?] [Yes | No] [Yes] The quest was accepted, slipping into place as part of her Interface, accessible now in the same way as her Status or her Log. She flicked through it briefly, then dismissed it. She was preparing to make another note when– Thump – A heavy, familiar impact slammed against the bunker door. Scarlet's jaw tightened as the sound reverberated through the space.

"Right, right," she muttered, grimacing as she turned her attention toward the source of the noise. The door held, as expected, but the reminder was unpleasant. The quest was a medium-term problem. The much more immediate problem was that it was not currently safe for her and Maus to leave the bunker. She leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on her knees as she worked through the problem. She and Maus could not start the quest, access more supplies, or grab their loot, until the safety issue was solved.

Another, lighter tremor ran through the door, as though whatever was outside was probing it.

"All right, I have an idea," she said to Maus, "and I'm going to need your help." Her first idea came easily enough. She already had a sensory advantage, and she already had a partner who could respond to threats much more quickly than she could. The issue is that while she could sense the shadow bat, she couldn't respond in any meaningful way that would allow Maus to act. She reached for the bond, focusing outward, letting her awareness brush against the space beyond the bunker that she could now perceive.

She began searching for that flicker of presence she had felt before. When she found it, or thought she did, she pushed the impression through the connection, sending not words but sharing her own senses with him. Maus looked up and sent back a wave of confusion. So that didn't work. She could somewhat share sensory information with him; however, he had no ability to interpret what she was sending. She leaned back, letting her thoughts flow.

"You're getting the information," she continued. Also, there was minimal to no communication lag so long as she was just keeping the bond wide open. The sticking point now was the time it took for her to translate what she was feeling into something useful to Maus. So, what did they both understand that would translate immediately and help him make use of her perception in real time. Because that was the real constraint. Time. The bat didn't give them the luxury of explanation, or of interpretation.

It would be there, then gone, and if they hesitated, that would be the end of it. The end of them. It would just do whatever cloaking it did and smash them. Her fingers stilled as something clicked into place. Mana. The answer was mana… The question was: how?