With the discussion over, no tears were shed—they got right to exploring.
“I’m gonna head to the sixth-stratum area. Probably tough for you two,” said Chrome.
“Heh-heh…more like tough for Sally.”
“Please take care of that…”
“Then I’ll head to the fourth stratum. That’s where my interests lie…,” Kasumi offered.
“What should we do?”
“Hmm…considering the fights that are on the way…”
“Want to ride on our bears?”
“Having some protection makes it easier for us!”
“Then let’s do that. I guess the third stratum’s closest. If they have flying machines, that’ll make things easier.”
Chrome took the sixth stratum, Kasumi the fourth, and the other four the third—each headed in a different direction.
“Call us if you need help! I’ll fly right over!”
“Literally!” Chrome laughed. “Okay, I’ll call if I’m in trouble. Things can get a bit hairy on my own.”
Hoping everyone made it, Maple and Sally waved them out.
“That offer made me kinda nervous.”
“Don’t sweat it! Like you said, Maple, it’s just what they’ve always done.”
“Yeah!”
“So where do we start?”
“That’s a good question.”
“Ah-ha, there are so many options.”
They could just run straight out into the field nearby, but after some thought, they decided to look around town first.
“Maybe we’ll find some quests!”
“Sounds good. That’s more likely to get us somewhere than just wandering.”
Maple and Sally left the Guild Home and started roaming the streets.
“Really feels like a classic fantasy world. Anything catch your eye?”
“Oooh, oooh, what’s that back there?”
Maple was pointing all the way down the main road at a two-story building guarded by a pair of armored NPCs with spears. Smoke rose from a big smokestack; much of the rest of the town was residential looking, but this place seemed like it did something.
“Wanna check it out?”
“Definitely!”
At their approach, the NPC guards glanced their way but didn’t try to stop them from entering.
There were several NPCs walking around inside, carrying bundles of paper covered in maps and writing. There was a big table at the back, and a discussion raged around it.
The man at the center of that discussion reacted to the girls’ approach, turning to face them.
His armor was even heavier than the guards’. A big shield and sword stood behind him, suggesting he had the power to match the armor. Even the NPCs were tenth-stratum level.
“Pardon me. We were just discussing our countermeasures to the demon lord’s invasion. There have been so many monster attacks. What brings you here?”
When his line ended, a quest mark appeared above his head.
“Maple, we can accept quests here.”
“True!”
“Good, we found something already.”
“Uh, let’s see…”
It wasn’t just one quest. They’d unlocked several, but there were a bunch still unavailable to them that had unlock conditions listed.
“Ah-ha! Looks like you have to clear quests in other towns to access these.”
“So you can make progress anywhere. If you do a bunch of quests in a different town, maybe you can skip a bunch of the early stuff here.”
“Makes sense.”
They didn’t have plans to visit other towns just yet, so they decided to do a few of the quests available here.
“Then…how about these?”
“Yeah, let’s go with them.”
They took the quests, and the man spoke again.
“You’ll lend us your aid?! Fantastic! We’re short on hands. Still…they are ferocious. A chance to demonstrate your own might!”
Harder jobs would follow. Clearing these quests would unlock more.
“We’ll do our best!”
“Even a simple quest is likely harder than anything on the ninth stratum, so let’s stay focused.”
“Yeah! Let’s go clear this thing!”
“That’s the spirit.”
They checked the quest destination and headed out of the building.
650 Name: Anonymous Mage
Tenth stratum too big