Rise of the Devourer

Book 3: Chapter 24 — Exploration Quest

Noah followed Kaelan out of the sparring chamber, arriving at the entrance of the estate where he saw the rest of the party gathered together. Aurelia stood with a rather sleepy expression, her eyes squinted and hair ever so slightly a mess like she had only just woken up from her nap. Erwest and Valeria remained together, the paladin standing stoic as ever while Valeria continued to chat with him excitedly. Noah had to wonder if there was something going on between the two, but it was hard for him to picture Erwest in any other expression besides a scowl.

Snow stood next to Seraphina, Sky flew next to her as Seraphina inspected the sky serpent with intrigue while the two discussed the magical properties of the creature. Upon his arrival, Snow turned to look at Noah, before rushing closer.

Noah! Look what Seraphina taught me! The girl exclaimed, Sky trailing behind her as Snow stood still in front of him, before closing her eyes as she whispered a chant under her breath. Noah could hear the words but his language perk didnt tell him what it meant, if anything. The tattoos on Snows body lit up with magic, one in particular flowing around before a moment later, her shadow stirred, as Shadow appeared in her arms.

Noah blinked, taken aback for a moment. Instead of the giant void wolf he usually saw, an manageable albeit still overgrown black wolf pup now hung in Snows grasp, licking at her fingers and wiggling around to go free.

Hes so cute! Look at him! Snow exclaimed, like any young girl would if given a puppy in their hands. Shadow wiggled around, before jumping out of her hands, clearly not comfortable with being treated like a cute little pup. Though unfortunately for him, that was exactly what he was, and almost everyone nearby soon gathered around the tiny Shadow, looking at him with varying levels of expression. The only one who didnt was Erwest and even his eternal scowl looked a little less mean right now as he looked at Shadow.

Aurelia on the other hand looked like she wanted to choke Shadow to death in a bear hug, and the wolf gave her a light growl that did not deter her whatsoever from petting him. His wagging tail at said pets did not help either.

Thats really cute, Noah said, giving in the to impulse as well as he couched down and pet the much smaller wolf. Has he actually become a child now, or is this temporary?

Temporary, Snow replied, shaking her head. Its a spell! It lets you summon big familiars as their smaller forms. They made it for big wyverns and griffins, but it works on almost anything.

Tired of the attention, Shadow turned towards Snow, jumping into her arms.

Kaelan clapped his hands to draw attention. Alright, we should leave the familiar be and not give him a good reason to turn into his big form and bite.

Sorry about that Shadow, I got excited, Snow said, and Shadow licked her face affectionately. The girl looked at the others. He says hes not mad.

Kaelan smiled. Great. Now, we have a few hours, the sun is still up, its midday at best, and the place I talked about wont open for six hours. So, I was thinking we could explore the city! Its the first time for all of you, well, besides me, from what I can tell, and theres a lot to be seen!

Where do you have in mind? Valeria asked.

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Theyre holding a Drake race. Huge drakes, almost wild, on the outskirts in a forest track. You get to ride those and race to the end and the victor wins a cash prize. Youre also allowed to knock the other contestants off their rides, Kaelan said, sharp teeth flashing.

Pass, Seraphina said immediately.

Ill pass as well, Valeria added. Theres a temple to the three gods here right? I want to visit and let them know Im here. And also commune with Rutha. He gets annoyed if I dont talk to him for too long.

She spoke as if the god was her friend, and given what hed seen of the gods so far, Noah could believe that.

Im going to look for magic shops. Drakonias is outside Erandirs mainland and its magic origins are tied to old dragon magic. I bet theres some rare grimoires and tomes I can find if I go hunting for one, Seraphina said, almost drooling at the thought, before she glanced at Snow. You wanna join me?

Snow looked at the woman, and then at Noah and the rest, like a girl looking to her parents for permission to be allowed to go play with a friend. Noah smiled at the look.

Feel free to. You dont need our permission, Noah said.

Snow beamed at his words, blushing ever so slightly before she gave Seraphina a nod.

I want to head to the adventurers guild. Check out what kind of quests they have. Its been a while since Ive done any simple and languid quests. All of it has been save this city, eradicate this cult. It sounds nice to do something simple again for once, Aurelia said.

Ill join Valeria, Erwest added.

What about you Noah? Kaelan asked.

At his words, Noah saw a notification pop up in his vision.

Quest: Explore the city

You are in the city of dragons, explore your surroundings and discover things before you have to meet up for the evening.

Sub-objectives:

Visit Septahs temple.

Participate in a Drake race.

Complete an Adventuring Quest.

Buy a magical grimoire or tome.

Time Limit: 6 hours

Reward: Will vary based on sub-objective completion.

Noah raised an eyebrow, as the quest appeared in front of him. That was a little odd, since typically his quests were more dangerous. Or combat focused. He saw the different areas pop up on his mini map showing exactly where he needed to go for the different subtasks. After a bit of thinking he settled on the closest objective first.

Ill head to the guild with Aurelia. We'llneed to register with the guild and I might as well checkout some of the quests there, Noah said.

Sub-quest initiated!

Alright. I suppose well all be splitting up then. The place is relatively easy to find, just look for a giant drake symbol drawn on top of a tavern in the Marchant street. Or just ask anyone to point you to Darians Steaks and theyll know where you need to go, Kaelan said.

Noah nodded, noting the location marked on his mini map with a fork and a knife. He shook his head in amusement.

Alright, then see you guys at the tavern, Kaelan said, wings spreading behind him as the man took off into the skies, kicking up dust everywhere.

Valeria saw that and turned to Erwest with a sly grin. You want to

Were walking, the paladin said in a tone that indicated he would not listen to any further objections as he stepped out.

Seraphina let her magic swirl around with wind lifting her in the air, and Sky circled Snow, helping generate more lift as the two girls floated upwards. Im certainly not walking when I can just fly, Seraphina said, and Sky cheered as the two of them flew off into the skies, heading out towards their goal.

Now only Noah and Aurelia remained. Noah turned to look at Aurelia who looked back at him with a shrug. Together, the two of them walked out of the estate, and towards the adventuring guild.