"So, did everyone get the necessary amount of materials everyone needs to submit their respective quests?" At the entrance to the city, Void_Guardian went ahead and took the initiative to start a conversation with the others, noticing the slightly exhausted looks on everyone's faces.
Nevertheless, that all changed once Void_Guardian asked his earlier question, causing everyone to slightly cheer up as they nodded in response.
With that, the five of them distributed the materials they've collected during the past day evenly, with all of them glad that they were able to complete the quest they were given within a day.
Then again, though all of them were all smiles, Nephilim inwardly let out a sigh at the current situation, recalling what the five of them were doing before they went on their separate ways to collect the materials needed to complete the quest.
On the previous day, after the other three were praising Void_Guardian for his idea of heading to the Crimson Forge, the five of them eventually stopped at some point on the outskirts of the city, splitting up the tasks they needed to complete the quest evenly among them. Though there was not much problem in doing that, Void_Guardian had given Nephilim the task of obtaining what was basically the hardest material among the five to obtain in the quest.
Recalling the hardships he had gone through on his own just to obtain enough for the five of them to submit their quests, Nephilim inwardly let out a sigh once more before proceeding to follow the others to the Crimson Forge, arriving at the smithy around ten minutes later.
At the very moment the smithy's storefront appeared within their field of vision, Void_Guardian and the others instantly had expectant expressions on their faces, their mind already thinking about the piece of equipment they would get from the smithy once they turned in their quests. Nephilim was no exception to this, a light smile adorning his face as he wondered what item he would get from the smithy as well.
With that, they slowly made their way through the display racks, eventually arriving at the workshop portion of the smithy where Valyr was in the middle of forging what seemed to be a piece of armor.
Becoming somewhat entranced while watching Valyr forge equipment for quite some time, the four eventually snapped out of this daze once Valyr had placed his forging hammer to the side in the meantime, seemingly noticing the presence of the five watching him.
Turning around to look at the five, Valyr looked at each player for a bit, eventually focusing his gaze on Nephilim, who was still seemingly entranced by what he was doing earlier. Inwardly smiling at the thought, he did some light stretching with his body before posing a question to the five, even though he already knew what they were here for. "How may I help you five today?"
"Er… we were the ones you gave quests to yesterday." Hearing the question, Void_Guardian took a step forward, instantly giving Valyr the feeling that Void_Guardian was most likely going to submit the quest first.
"Fortunately, we were able to find all of the materials you've tasked us to find, so we're here to submit it." With that, Void_Guardian brought out all of the materials he currently had and gave them to Valyr. In response, the latter looked at the items he had been given for a bit before inspecting each and every item closely.
Eventually, after what felt like eternity to the players, Valyr gave them a nod of satisfaction as he grabbed a decently sized pouch and placed the items Void_Guardian gave him into it. With a smile, he then said to Void_Guardian, "Color me surprised. I was expecting you five to take a bit longer in completing the quest, but here we are. Who knew you'd be able to complete it within a day?"
"In any case, since you were able to uphold your end of the deal, it's time to uphold mine." As these words came out of his mouth, Valyr felt the excitement oozing out of Void_Guardian's body, prompting him to suppress the urge to chuckle as he continued. "Since you're the first one to submit the quest's requirements to me, feel free to grab two Common+ grade items from this smithy. Once you do that, show me what you've obtained and you'll be free to leave."
"Thank you!" Hearing Valyr's words, Void_Guardian quickly thanked the man before heading towards the display racks to choose the items that he would grab from the smithy.
On the other hand, after hearing the bonus that Void_Guardian got from being the first to submit the quest, the others felt a hint of jealousy, though this swiftly died down once they recalled that he was the one who suggested they head to the Crimson Forge in the first place.
With that, the other three submitted their portion of materials to Valyr as well, causing the smile on his face to widen as the three joined Void_Guardian in searching for the item they would take from the smithy and keep as their own.
Gazing at the other four for a short while, seeing how all of them were ecstatic to finally obtain the fruits of their labor, Nephilim lightly scratched his head before giving his portion of materials to Valyr, bitterly smiling in their process. "Can I go ahead and choose an item?"
"Feel free." Valyr nodded, prompting Nephilim to nod back as he turned around to head to the display racks. Though, just as he was about to make his way to the racks, Valyr posed a question to him.
"But before you do so, can you answer my question first?"
"What would the question be, sir?" Slightly wondering if this conversation would lead to another quest or not, Nephilim decided to just continue the conversation either way.
"Are you being treated well by your fellow adventurers?" Valyr looked at Nephilim with a slightly concerned expression, prompting the latter to lightly smile in response. Though, just as he was about to say yes, Nephilim felt hesitant as to whether he should do so. After all, what he had experienced so far was mostly the opposite.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Of course, Valyr noticed Nephilim's hesitation, prompting him to wonder whether he was too hasty in his questioning. Fortunately, those words were enough for Nephilim to gain the courage to respond, lightly shaking his head soon after.
"I see." Placing his hand on one of Nephilim's shoulders, Valyr looked at him in the eye before giving the man a suggestion.
"How about this? Instead of having you choose a Common+ grade item like the others, how about I give you something else?"
"Something else?" Nephilim tilted his head in slight confusion, causing Valyr to flash a grin in response.
"A different quest."
Ding!
⟨You have obtained the quest: Choosing One's Path.⟩
