First quest is.... A chicken farm?

After grabbing a bite to eat and grabbing some essentials for regular hunters like camping gear and nonperishibles, we set off towards Hector's friend's farm. It took us a few hours to walk there and by then the sun was starting to get lower in the horizon and the sparse trees and low brush around us were starting to cast shadows and the nighttime creatures were starting to stir from their sleep.

The sight of a huge red barn came into view as around it in a wide square of atleast a few miles were nothing but huge metal fencing atleast 7ft. high that were keeping in bird like creatures that were just barely inches below that height.... Wait what!

I stopped fully in my tracks as I got a good sight at what I had in my head as just some special species of freaking chickens! But these things.... These were fucking CHOCO.... Ahem I mean these looked like large flightless birds that were apart of a very popular game series.... Granted they looked slightly different as the beaks were more pointed and longer with a dangerous looking hook at the end, while also having more subdued colors of feathering like gray or brown..... But these things were definitely what close to what I thought they were!!!!!

"Hector... You know what these things look like don't you?" I asked Hector as he turned to look at the big birds with a smile and chuckled.

"Why do you think my friend started to raise em and farm em? When we first started and came across these things he jumped for joy and instantly started to build a farm to raise them screaming about how he could finally live his dream or something. But yes I know what they look like but don't let that fool you boy, they are just as mean as any monster you could find in the wild."

My heart started beating faster than a jackrabbit as we started to get near the fence where a man was standing there with a big smile on his face as he looked at Hector and me walking up.

"Welcome boys to the Kweh Forest Ranch!" He said with a wave of his arms out towards the herd of roaming creatures that he raised.

"Haha, Jimmy, this is my good friend Alex Bower. Alex, this is my adopted son James Frough. It's his first mission in the IDPs and he's here to help you out." Hector patted me on the back and pushed me forwards a little.

"Great to meet ya Jimbo. Why don't we head inside and I'll fill ya'll in on what needs to be done round here. I'm sure the wife already has supper almost done and any minute now she will be a yelling for us."

We followed Alex inside and off to the left of the entrance way was on open doorway that led to the kitchen and from it wafted such a delicious smell that damn near lifted me off my feet like a cartoon character. Alex went in gave the woman that was in there over a big pot of boiling stew a bear hug from behind and lifted her into the air. She gave a short yelp but than chuckled as she realized who it was.

"Fucking hell babe you scared me! I damn near knocked over the food!" She yelled at him once he put her down but even though she yelled I could tell she wasn't that serious as she still had a smile on her face as she turned towards us.

"And who do we have here? I see our friend Hector has deigned to pay us humble farmers a visit, and ooh is this Little Jimmy that He's told us so much about? I can see you finally got your powers and joined us over here. I'm glad to finally see that Hector dear, I know you were worried about that for so long."

Hector smiled and nodded his head. "Yea, I was worried there for a bit but Jim pulled through and even got the tamer skill just like you Alex. Unfortunately he got dealt a bad hand and only got E rank on his grading and even had to go through the first meal that was only meant for higher ranks.... But dammit if this boy did not survive that and even got a higher grade as a reward haha, this kid is a survivor and a badass I tell ya! One day soon don't be surprised if this guy is someone we look up to as we keep exploring these IDP." Hector smacked in on my back a few times and laughed as I got red in the face from all this praise.

"I'm not really that confident that I'll be that good but I can only do the best I can." I raised my fist up as a light of confidence shone in my eyes.

They looked at me with smiles, 2 were of happiness at the prospect of my future while Hectors was of pride.

"Anyways Hector why don't yall sit down at the table and start your business. The stews almost ready."

"Thanks baby I can't wait, smells great. Let's go boys I got a map set up and a couple contracts all ready to sign." Alex said as he waved us to follow and sit at a big square table that had a big map of the surrounding farm with a couple of circles and big X's in a couple of spots aswell as two pieces of paper with our names on it.

"So as you can see fellas, I have a few issues around the farm. I've got some spots over here in the north where monsters keep trying to get through the fence, and over here in far acres of grazing lands I've got a couple Males that are running amok and tearing up everything in sight since it's Mating season." His voice got a little bit louder as he directed his next words at the woman cooking. "I told someone that it would be a good idea to get rid of the males except one but SOMEONE decided oh nooooo we couldn't do that! All because someone Freaking named em after they hatched!"

Hector and me laughed as from the kitchen she yelled back. "Boy don't you blame this on me! You got just as attached when those puff balls looked up at you and squeaked! I distinctly remembering you saying awwww as they popped out of the shells so don't even! Now come get a bowl!"

After getting our food and sitting back down with the woman this time joining us at the table Alex continued. "So like I was saying." As he pointed a direct gaze at his wife before chuckling and turning back to us. "Like I was saying, the males are causing problems that unfortunately despite how we feel about the bastards, they have to go. I can't sell em because the only other Kweh farmer is having the same issue except his is mostly monsters trying to get at his hens that are all starting to lay, and therefore defenseless. His one and only Rooster is a damn beast of a protector and even survived a scuffle or two with some grade D beasts that managed to get through a year ago, but he is getting on in age and the fights are taking their toll.... But the damn thing is so stubborn that the last male I sold the guy wound up dead first day from being introduced to the flock!"

"Yea we got word only a couple hours after we dropped the poor guy off. We told him we could bring another one right away but he said he could just wait till the old bird croaks then he will come by to grab one."

"That's insane! Are all the Choco... I mean the Kweh.... Like that? Are they just as mean as I imagined they would be? What about the plumage and differences that I am thinking of from the game? Are they the same or is that just the hopefulness of a newbie?" I asked with a raised tone as I imagined myself owning a farm with a flock of these badass looking birds grazing and being the farms protector aswell as giving me a means of money.

"Hahaha, they do have some similarities yes, but the ones that are used for mounts and combat are very rare. I'd say the amount that we sold to the adventures to be used like that are... Oh damn idk? Maybe 3 or 4 the entire time we been doing this? Maybe one a year? But granted we raise the livestock variety and breed them towards better serving that purpose. The other farmer Kyle, now that guy is fully invested in raising fighter breeds. I mean he even started building an arena that he put up against his fence that would let in monsters and he would pit the birds against em so that they gain experience and get stronger! Dudes nuts but man his birds are gorgeous.... Anyways the variety you see here are the normal greys and browns but he has some that fit the more yellow plumage and he even pumped out a blue last batch of hatchlings. That little guy went on to sell for quite a good bit from what Kyle said."

Alex started to peter off into his own little world as his wife took over. "You'll have to excuse Alex hon, he starts getting lost in his own world when it comes to his prized birds haha, By the way my name is Kelly." She put out her hand and I shook it with a smile.

"Back to business, We need you to go ahead and either scare the males out of the farm, or kill em. It sucks but they are starting to hurt the gals and we can't have that. Alex wanted to set off after dinner to go check out the parts of the fences that the monsters are trying to break through so be prepared for a fight as we heard news of a couple grade D's in the area but so far it's all been E's and F's that are bugging us. They don't do so much as make scratches on the fences but so many of them have shown up lately that the damage has started to add up."

"Ah gotcha, sounds good to me what about you Jimmy? You ready for this? I know nighttime isn't exactly the best for a first fight but you'd have me and Alex there and knowing Alex, he has a good setup of lights that flood the area with light." Hector looked over at me and reassured me. I knew nothing too bad would happen so I nodded and agreed. By this time Alex had reentered our world and caught the end of the conversation.

"Great! Let's finish up and then we can set out. Do you have a weapon Jimbo? I know Hector here isn't the greatest at remembering stuff like making sure a newbie is properly fixed up with the necessities as the camping gear and stuff you brought still had the same day tag still hanging from em haha. But I got a couple of old weapons that I wouldn't mind giving ya for starters, wanna go take a look? We gotta go by the shed anyways for me to grab my gear so it won't be any trouble."

I thanked him as we headed out to the shed that was not a damn shed whatsoever! It was the damn barn that he was talking about that we headed to, he slid open the giant sliding door that was made of some kind of steel and inside were numerous stalls that held what I assumed were the females Kwehs... or hens I guess as they called em. But in the very far back was another door.... on a little shed that was inside the damn barn! This guy had a freaking shed inside of his barn!

But he opened up that door and inside was a big enough room that held a bunch of farm tools and on one wall was hanging weapons that Alex went over and picked up off the wall. He handed me a knife for skinning with a belt loop for easy access. I added that to my other knife Hector gave me so I had two, one on each side. Then he asked me which one I preferred, either a shortsword, or an axe. Obviously I went with the axe as it had one sharp side and a blunt one but the handle was short as to be wielded in one hand but also had another handle near the blade that could be used for very close range uses. It looked pretty nice.

"Ok, now that we are ready let's get out there. Oh wait let me turn on the lights real quick first." Alex turned and flipped up a cover that hid a big handle that when he flipped it up I could hear a short buzzing sound and then saw as light erupted out to cover almost every inch of the fencing that surrounded his farm.

"This must be expensive upkeep Alex, how do you handle it?" I asked as I was actually taking mental notes for ideas when I get my own farm in the future.

"This is actually all connected by underground wires that are fed by a magistone generator that I got hooked up in my basement. I worked for a while digging trenches to handle all the cables and such but in the end it more than pays for itself since the biggest issue with fighting at night is taking care of."

"It's actually a good idea Jimmy, granted Alex must pay a fortune for magistones but fighting at night is super dangerous even if the monsters are just E's or F's."

Again I just nodded since this was all lessons for me as a newbie that I'm sure the others had to experience for themselves, this way I could atleast try to mentally prepare...

As we got closer to one of the fence areas I started to hear growls and aggressive sounding barks and snarls. I could see that at the very edge of the light that flooded past the fence and to a treeline, I saw as blood red eyes and almost glowing yellow eyes reflected out back towards me and every so often I would see a paw in the light that looked like a mix of canine and like some kind of scythe as the paws had 5 toes and each had a claw at the end of it but in the middle of the paw was a blade like protrusion that bent in an arch and looked very sharp.

"These we just call Grade E Cutter wolves. They generally have greenish grey fur and have a knack for wind magic and can shoot out wind blades that do a good chunk of damage to anybody not using proper protection on this side of the portal. I've seen countless people back in the day almost taken out by one of these just because they weren't wearing the proper gear. But since they are ranked E I suggest we be cautious since they usually travel in a pack upwards of a couple dozen at the least. That is if they aren't led by an Alpha."