Part 25

The board that was built on the wall was massive, almost reaching from the door to the stairs, and was about as tall as a person. On it was about three hundred sheets of paper, stapled to the board in an uneven and cluttered way.

"That's the quest board," Jonathan told me, "In the past, the receptionists would hand the adventurer's quests. However, once the profession got big, the guild got lazy and built this thing. Now, if an adventurer wants to go on a quest, they just need to look at the board until they find something good. Of course, rules are in place, so not just any adventurer can just choose a random quest to complete."

"Makes sense," I said, "Where do we find party applications and the like?"

"Those aren't on the board," Jonathan told me, "Instead, we have to go around the room and find somebody looking for a party. They'll usually make themselves vocal if they want to join our party, so we only need to walk around for a bit. Arthur, why don't you do that while we try to find a good quest."

"Why are you just pinning the responsibility on me?" I complained. Jonathan laughed, then put his arm on my shoulder.

"We don't have the appraisal skill, my guy," Jonathan told me. Then, after he gave me a quick smirk he moved away from me and turned to the board, "Have fun!"

Evelyn followed him while Icarus looked between me and Jonathan.

"Go join him," I told Icarus with a mischievous smile on my face, "You'll just end up attracting everybody's attention whether they want to join the party or not. Have fun."

Icarus nodded, then began dashing after Jonathan. I saw the others explore the board for quests when Icarus caught up with them. Icarus ended up jumping at Jonathan's shoulders, bringing him down like a boulder as Jonathan was surprised by Icarus's sudden weight. After I made sure Icarus landed safely on Jonathan's shoulders, I turned away and began to search the room for our fourth party member.

Just as Jonathan had told me, the majority of the room was full of people looking for parties to join. I made sure to walk up to all of these people, hoping to get them as our fourth member. However, after learning that I was only F ranked, they turned away and ignored me.

This happened a few more times. Then, after thirty minutes of being ignored, I began to hear a commotion across the room.

"Why not?" A voice asked from near the door. I turned to the source of the noise, then found a party of six ganging up on two people. The group of six appeared to be wealthy adventurers, based on the quality of their gear, but the two people that were separate seemed to be average. Then, after I looked at the two people, I groaned in annoyance and began walking toward the commotion.

"Why don't you sell me that dragon? I can use a dragon like that!" The leader of the wealthy group said. Now that I was walking toward the commotion, I was able to see exactly what was going on. However, I stopped and began watching from a couple of yards away, as I was curious of the group's intentions.

"I'm telling you!" Jonathan yelled as he looked at the leader. Upon his back was Icarus, who was barely hanging on because of his large size. Jonathan appeared to also be struggling from Icarus's weight, but he didn't say anything about it, "Icarus isn't mine to sell, now go away!"

"Who is then? You can't have a dragon be that kind around you without being a tamer! Tell me or I'll simply take that dragon away from you!" The leader yelled. Suddenly the leader walked forward, his hand stretched out as he prepared to take Icarus away from Jonathan.

I moved forward, intending to get between Jonathan and the leader of the group. However, before I could, another person stepped forward and got between them for me. She was skinny and small, like a child, and had long and messy black hair. The small person wore dark leather armor and a torn coat around her body but had a high-quality sword strapped to her waist. However, on the person's cheeks were small dark green scales that grew over her skin like a rash. Her eyes were slits and colored completely green.

"They told you to leave them alone!" The snake girl yelled.

"You!" The leader of the group roared. He moved to push the girl aside, then turned back to Jonathan. The snake girl fell easier than I had expected, so I moved forward before the leader of the group could do anything else. The leader's hand was still extended forward, so I quickly took it in my own hand and gave it a quick twist.

His wrist broke instantly, cracking like dry pasta as the noise of the breakage echoed through the room. The man instantly fell to the ground, crying out in pain as he held his broken wrist close to his body. He backed away, tripping over his own body, then looked at me.

"Who are you?" The man yelled out. I quickly appraised him, so I could see his strength, then sighed.

﹃

Cal Borne

Race: Elf

Level: 9

HP: 32

MP: 39

AC: 12

DMG: 25

Rank: D

Titles: Coward

Skills: Wind Magic, Earth Magic, Retreat

﹄

"How weak," I sighed. I turned away from the man, then looked to the snake girl on the ground. I extended my hand to help her up. She hesitantly took it, then rose to the ground, "Are you oka-"

My eyes widened in shock as I saw the girl's stats.

﹃

Hazel Conley

Race: Spirit

Level: 1

HP: 10

MP: 10

AC: 12

DMG: 15

Rank: S

Titles: Cursed Child, ???

Skills: Sprint, Sword Skills

Status Effects: Cursed

﹄

"I'm okay," The snake girl said, bringing me out of my stupor. I nodded, then turned away from her and began to focus on Cal again.

"Who are you?" I asked, despite knowing his name already. Cal stood up and looked at me with tears in his eyes. Then, as Icarus jumped off of Jonathan's back and moved toward my own, Cal gasped and turned around.

"I'll get you back! Group, move out!" Cal said as he turned around. The rest of his group left with him, retreating to a different spot of the room that I wasn't in. I turned away from Cal and looked back at the others.

"Thanks for the save," Jonathan said as he rubbed his shoulders, "Did you find anyone?"

I shook my head, then turned to the snake girl- Hazel. She was still standing with us, awkwardly hovering near us in silence. Then she quickly bowed her head and began walking away.

"Wait," I said. Hazel stopped, then turned to me.

"I'm sorry for getting involved," Hazel said, "I ended up being nothing more than a burden. I'm sorry."

"No, I should be thanking you," I said. Hazel's eyes widened as she grew surprised, "Thanks for getting involved before I could. Why don't we get you something to eat as thanks."

"Really?" Hazel asked as her face lit up with excitement. Jonathan stepped forward and looked at me. Then, while his face was directed away from Hazels, he began to whisper in my ear.

"Bro, what are you doing? That's Hazel Conley, the guild's worst adventurer," Jonathan whispered to me with a hushed voice, "I've only been here for a few minutes and I've already heard about her."

"Naturally, I've already appraised her," I whispered back as I turned to Jonathan. Jonathan looked at me, then sighed,

"Then you know about her stats! Some say she's cursed," Jonathan said, "She's been here for three years, but she's still level one and her rank is so bad the status plate can't even sense it."

"Really? That's strange," I said, "But I might be able to find out how to remove the curse. Just look at her, Jonathan. She's a kind person. She got involved and tried to protect you while nobody else did. She at least deserves a meal."

"You're right," Jonathan sighed, "But why are you worrying so much about her if you've seen her stats."

"If she's been here for three years, yet hasn't been able to level up, it might be because of the curse," I said, "Let me at least try, Jonathan."