Chương 6: Chapter 5 – First Quest

The rhododendron was surprisingly talkative, Laura found. Not that the plant actually used words; it communicated with a set of alien feelings and sensations through the empathetic link they shared. At first, it had only allowed her to communicate with the plants she directly touched, but she soon figured out how to reach other plants in the vicinity through the dense network of roots and mycelium. Initially, Laura only managed a few meters of range.

Now, she could, with a bit of concentration, talk to every plant from the house to the yard while not moving a single step. Her actual range was probably a bit further than that, but the gravel and cobblestone proved a difficult barrier. The rhododendron sent her another impression – a weevil gnawing on a leaf. If she had to pick a 'human' equivalent, it would be… the hairdresser messing up a cut and accidentally tugging on a strand of hair. A little painful, but, for lack of better terms, normal and expected.

The sensation was then replaced by the feeling of taking a sip of cold water on a hot day; presumably the plant was focusing on drawing water through its roots while the summer sun evaporated humidity from the leaves. It was deeply fascinating. She had experimented with bilateral communication, but she struggled with packaging her intentions into plant-digestible impressions.

The most successful experiments in this regard had been the large oak in front of the house, and the remains of the pine her daughter was currently practicing with. The poor thing. Don't worry, I'll take care of you later, she sent, itching to try out one of her own new spells that could apparently heal plants and people alike. With that message, she included a mental image of new sprouts growing from an old trunk, and received what felt like abstract gratitude in return.

The blackcurrant wasn't doing particularly well either. Some kind of rodent had gnawed on its roots, and it seemed quite thirsty. Laura made a mental note to water it later. The oak exuded an aura of general content, but it did not make for great conversation despite the greater complexity of its thoughts. They were sluggish, but constant. The rhododendron complained about the weevil again. Then– PAIN. HOT HOT HOT SUN PAIN HOT SUN PAIN.

Laura snapped out of her trance, only to witness her husband extinguishing the burning shrub with a wave of his hand. Kai glanced her way with a guilty expression.

"You set my rhododendron on fire," she stated, engaging her 'mom voice'. The way all three scoundrels flinched was satisfying, but the torment of the still-smoking plant remained fresh in her mind.

"No more dangerous spells in the garden," she ordered, receiving hasty nods in return. Then she turned her full attention toward her son, who was holding a rather dangerous-looking sword with a rather nice-looking gem set in the grip. No, I think it was 'pommel', right? Actually, the gem looked much like the one Lena had on her new staff. Interesting.

"Did you get Wizard as well?" Kai's expression soured for a brief moment.

"I bought it. The system designated me as Sorcerer." Ah. That was the class Daniel had specifically warned Lena away from. He had probably gotten his son to pick Wizard and ignore the initial class for his own safety. On paper, a very good thing. She hoped Kai hadn't taken it too badly, but judging from his clenched jaw, that was unlikely. At least he seemed happy with his sword, occasionally glancing at it like he used to do with Christmas presents he liked, but was too 'grown-up' to openly be happy about.

While Daniel produced a boulder as a new, non-sentient practice target, Laura got to work on the rhododendron. She tapped into her connection with the plants, finding the process much easier than the first time, and triggered her spell.

"[Regrowth]." Burnt matter was repelled from the surviving, healthy branches, and new shoots sprouted where the fire had irreparably damaged the shrub. A process that usually took weeks was accelerated by orders of magnitude, and minutes later, the rhododendron looked – and felt – healthy again. However, it did send her an impression that reminded her of being very hungry and only getting a thin soup for dinner. Maybe it's telling me that it needs fertilizer? She went on to cast the same spell on the pine.

The trunk was much less responsive, perhaps owed to its larger size and complexity, but she noted with relief that her efforts at least made its tired voice a little stronger. In the meantime, her kids were wreaking havoc on their new target. Silvery beams of mana and small fireballs left distinct marks on the rock. But it did not take long for them to exhaust themselves. Daniel ordered a meditation break to restore mana points, and Lena dutifully sat down cross-legged. Kai attempted the same, but quickly gave up.

After a brief and thankfully calm discussion with his father, he began swinging his sword instead, trying a more involved form of meditation. Just as Laura herself settled down into a comfortable position to meditate and fill her dwindling reserves – two out of ten mana points were left according to the interface – she heard loud shouting coming from the driveway.

"Laura? Daniel? Help!" The disturbance turned out to be their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Kurz. The sociable lady and her husband owned the small ranch down the street and stubbornly insisted on keeping it, even though none of their adult children or grandchildren were interested in taking over. Stolen novel; please report. Now, the usually carefree grandmother was panicking, and Laura even spotted a tear running down her weathered cheek.

"Ah, there you are! Please, help me!" Daniel threw Laura a glance. After being married for twenty-six years, she understood it well – 'Please deal with this.' While the rest of her family hastily stowed their new magical equipment in the barn, she moved to intercept Mrs. Kurz.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" The old lady stuttered out a few syllables, then took a breath to steady herself as the other Brandts emerged from the barn.

"Martha is dead!" she finally cried.

"She's dead!" Kai immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Have you called 112?" he asked, already entering the number. Lena stared at the ground, while Daniel observed silently.

"That wouldn't do much," Laura stated.

"No reception here. And more importantly, Martha is a cow." Kai blinked, then stowed his phone with a relieved sigh. Laura gave him a look, and he had the decency to wince.

"Martha isn't just a cow! She is… she was…" Mrs. Kurz sobbed deeply, then caught herself again.

"I went to check on her when she didn't return to the barn with the others. I… I found her in the forest."

"... Did she break out of the fence?"

"No, that's not it! The fence was broken, but from the outside!" the elderly farmer shouted.

"Something broke in, then chased her out, and then it ate her!"

"It ate her?!" Laura repeated in sheer disbelief. The few predators in the local woods were nowhere near a cow's weight class – foxes, wildcats, the occasional lynx. A few months ago, she had heard the howl of one of the recently repopulated wolves, but even those would usually steer clear of such large prey. Maybe a rogue bear from the mountains? But that would have been all over the news already. Her eyes drifted to the edge of the forest, half a kilometer away. Just a few hours earlier, she had– The children.

Laura's heart seized with panic as she remembered the kids in the treeline. If they were still there… She grabbed her husband's arm.

"Daniel, there was a school class playing in the forest earlier. We need to call the police and the school, now." Daniel's eyes sharpened. For an instant, he looked… very different, the contrast to the greying father of two more intense than ever.

"... The school is closed," Mrs. Kurz remarked, visibly confused.

"It's the summer holidays. I've got little Frida over right now."

"But I saw a bunch of kids in the forest–""We'll take care of it, Mrs. Kurz," Daniel interrupted, putting a surprisingly firm hand on Laura's shoulder.

"I'll check it out. I've got a hunting license." His calm, steady voice pulled Laura out of her panic right in time to see him telling an obvious lie, something he never did. He sometimes hid information – and apparently major secrets as well – but he did not lie outright. Still, Mrs. Kurz was placated, and soon bid goodbye to take care of her granddaughter who was missing her second-favorite cow. As soon as she left, Laura turned to her husband.

"What are you thinking? We need to check on–" ~ NEW QUEST ASSIGNED ~ Investigate the half-eaten cow in the forest. Before she managed to gather her thoughts, Lena chirped, "Dad, I got a quest!" Alright, it's not only me.

"Same," Kai stated, still distracted by his interface.

"Me too," Laura added.

"What does that mean?" Daniel's face lit up for a brief moment, before the intensity returned stronger than before.

"It means the integration is further along than I thought. If the System is giving out quests, there must be valid targets. Integrated beasts or monsters, maybe? What does the text say?" Lena read it aloud, and Daniel did his equivalent of a frown, slightly pursed lips.

"On one hand, investigations are great because they tend to have followup quests. On the other hand, it's confirmation that we're not dealing with a mundane predator." Laura's heart started racing again. She naturally had no real concept of what her husband was talking about, but that only meant the children might be in even more danger.

"We need to check on those kids," she demanded.

"You should do just that," Daniel confirmed.

"Gather your equipment, everyone. You're going on a quest." As Kai and Lena ran off to fetch their gear, Laura stayed behind.

"'You'? Aren't you coming with us?"

"I didn't get the quest because I'm too powerful," he told her, making the absurd statement sound like the most normal thing in the world.

"If I participated, there would be no rewards. I'll be watching from a distance in case things go wrong. [Levitation]." He rose into the air, two meters, four meters, above the barn, then landed again to demonstrate his point. By now, Laura was not even surprised anymore, she just accepted the madness of it all. Still…

"... That's good, but why do we have to do it in the first place? Shouldn't we just let the police deal with it?"

"If there are already magical creatures around, we are on a much tighter training timeline," Daniel explained.

"Quests grant skill points. You will need every skill point you can get, and we currently have a monopoly on quests in this region. We should exploit that as much as possible to keep Kai and Lena safe in the future."

"Daniel, I have no idea what is going on. I can't just let the kids walk into danger."

"I don't have time to explain it properly, Laura. Quests don't wait around, and they are vitally important. Please, trust me." His plea caught Laura so off-guard that she couldn't suppress a choking sound. Daniel simply delivered proof, he never asked for trust – she could count the number of times he had done so on one hand. Make that two fingers, actually. She had to reframe her approach here.

"What would be more dangerous – going on the quest or ignoring it?" Daniel hesitated briefly, thinking it through.

"Going means immediate, manageable danger. Not going means delayed, unpredictable danger that compounds over time." Damn it all. She sighed deeply.

"Fine. But I have one condition. Can you check from above before we go in? Just so we can be sure there are no kids around still?"

"... I'll do what I can without messing up the quest for you. I don't think I'll be able to spot much on the forest floor, but I'll scan the treeline. If I see any actual kids, I'll get them out." Laura nodded. She still hated the 'plan', but at least they had one. However, there was still a nagging thought in her head.

"You don't actually have a hunting license, do you?" He blinked.

"Well," he began sheepishly.

"I do have a hunting license. For big game hunting. Personally signed by the late Count Vilesz." Then he took off towards the forest.