I was relieved, it seemed like at least for now Rosalynn wasn’t going to hold the mess Aureus created against me. At least now I could make this a safer place for them, and I could head back to an objectively better area of the Underhollow. Was that… too selfish? These people needed a comfortable place to settle like that. Kids laughing as they ran over the hills and into the river, what a healing sight that’d be. I pondered on the idea of bringing them back, but how could we get this many people out of the city safely?


    I forced myself to stop overthinking and asked,  “So should we talk about where to go from here? Did y’all want me here for that, or would you prefer to have that conversation without us?”


    “I’d rather us be involved. If that’s fine with y’all.” Reid chimed in.


    “Yup, if I’m going to be making y’alls shit I want a say. Especially since I doubt y’all have much to trade me for it that I can’t get on my own or from our people.” Caroline added.


    “I mean, if you’ve got so many issues with how we’ve been doing it I’d like to go into them. We’d be able to resolve them better.” Damien said bitterly with just a dash of sass as he rolled his shoulder. I nudged Reid, who just nudged me back instead of going to help him.


    I took a deep breath, maybe I should have thought more about what changes to make before barging in here and destroying their command center tent thing. “Well to start with, even if we ignore the levels, there needs to be some physical defenses. A wall, a moat, hell, even just spikes around the perimeter would be better than nothing.” I tried not to sound too critical, the energy settled in a strange way after the confrontation moments before and I didn’t want to tip it back towards hostile.


    “It’s not like we hadn’t considered that before, but it would take us weeks to build a wall. It isn’t exactly something we could erect in just a day…” Rosalynn said with a frown, her brows pulled together pensively.


    “I’m sure if you got Caroline’s help and the rest of the camp you could get it figured out. As I mentioned I’m in a bit of a hurry.” I argued, they had a few thousand people there at the very least they could set up a rudimentary wall. They’d managed to smooth out the stone beneath us well enough. I did feel a little bad that I’d made such a fuss, just to up and disappear right after. Only a little. I was still annoyed by the whole confrontation.


    “Maybe, but-” Her voice faded into garbled background noise as my mind focused on the window that appeared in front of me. I tried not to show it on my face, I breathed deep and tried to calm my beating heart.


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” has sponsored you.]


    [“Divine Hammer of Blessings” has sponsored you.]


    [“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” has sponsored you.]


    ~~*~~


    Protect the Weak


    Quest


    Description: The weak are innocent and lack the ability to protect themselves. You who are strong and aware of the dangers this world possess can protect them or teach them how to protect themselves.


    Rewards: All tier rewards are cumulative.


    S: Familiar Subspace


    A: Additional skill for all current and future familiars


    B: Dual Daggers of Sorrow


    C-F: XP based on performance.


    Time Limit: 7:00:00:00


    ~~*~~


    A subspace and an additional skill? How good of a job would I need to do in the next week to get both of those? I ran my hands through my hair. I couldn''t view the details, but I knew the rewards had to be excellent. The main problem with that was if the rewards were that good then the challenge must be that much harder. I made a mental note to check the GGC as soon as I had a moment.


    I looked at the ground, I wanted to scream, to cry, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want them to know I just got a quest, it’d be better for them to assume I was looking at the GGC. I didn’t want to stay here, I wanted to go back home, I had already made that decision… but the rewards were too tempting. I knew deep down that I’d get better results if I stayed here rather than going back. I kept telling myself that I wanted to go back because this area of the Underhollow was too sparse and low level for me, but honestly what I really wanted was to go home again. I just missed home. Even then I couldn’t justify returning.


    I scratched the underside of Aureus’ jaw as I mulled it over, “Alright, tell you what. I’ve got a stake in this too, plus I messed up this whole area… So I’ll have Aureus start on the walls, that’ll take a good bit off of your plates.”


    “So you’re gonna stay?” Caro asked.


    “Yeah, I’ll stay. But only for a week.” I said as I mentally accepted the quest. Caro tackled me as she squealed, “Yes, I know. Just a week! Calm down!” I jokingly got upset as I hugged her back.


    “That sounds good. Any strings attached to that?” Damien asked after Caro released me.


    “Uh, I don’t think so? I mean other than I’d appreciate it if you welcome Caro and Reid… OH! And Noel too. And just try to consider our point of view a bit more. It’d be nice if we could move on from everything that just happened…” I laughed awkwardly, but the group nodded slowly.


    “Sure, sounds good.” He agreed, “I still feel like walls are a bit overkill. The rats are pathetically weak and there haven’t been any waves while we’ve been in the Underhollow only when it first opened.”


    “I guess, but I’m pretty sure those kids are weaker. And well, even though it was sort of artificial we dealt with one when we first arrived here.”


    “Really? You saw a wave of those rats?” Jeong asked. It was the first time I’d heard his voice. It was smooth and soft and moderately deep, the kind of voice I’d like to fall asleep to.


    “Yeah, Noel managed to lead hundreds of those little nuisances right to us.” Caro muttered with annoyance. I doubted that she’d let go of that anytime soon.


    “Seriously? How did y’all get out of that?” Tali asked wide eyed.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ‘The rats were the easy part, all we needed were some walls to keep them from surrounding us on all sides. It was the trip through the city that was the problem.” Caroline added, it seemed there was another thing she wouldn’t be forgetting in the near future.


    “Oh… y’all ran into some hostile people too?” Tali’s expression dropped, she must have been remembering something unpleasant.


    Caro snorted and shot a grumpy glare my way. I rolled my eyes, “What? I made a few mistakes, plus I’m fine. No biggie.”


    She threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. She let out a long breath, but before she could reprimand me her brother took the words from her mouth, “No biggie?! You showed up on my doorstep coughing up blood half dead, just a few mistakes. Oh yeah a few. I think there were three? A huge wound in your chest, internal bleeding, and a collapsed lung. Sure. NO biggie.”


    “Don’t forget the broken ankle.” Caro added. They always resembled each other most when chastising me.


    “You’re right. Four then.” He said as he crossed his arms. The both of them looked like they couldn’t decide between angry and sad.


    “Jeez, and you’re still planning on leaving?” Rosalia asked as she tried to mask her shock.


    “Yup.” I said casually.


    Tali pulled her hands up towards her collarbones as she picked at the skin on her fingers, she was mumbling to herself again.


    “Aren’t you going to get yourself killed then?” Damien asked this time, he seemed genuinely worried. It was an odd change from his sharp exterior he showed just moments before.


    “Nah, she’ll be fine.” Noel chirped. He was sitting in an empty spot a few feet away. Rosalia yelped in surprise and reddened again. Why was she always so surprised about his existence?


    “Yeah y’all don’t need to worry about Mia.” Caroline responded bitterly. Reid echoed their sentiments.


    Rosalia glanced up at Aureus, “I get that she has a dragon, but shouldn’t you guys be a little worried?”


    “Of course we’re worried! But it isn’t like we can stop her…” Reid trailed off.


    “Honestly there’s no way she would have ended up injured if I wasn’t there. We were outnumbered and I hadn’t leveled up at all yet.” She looked frustrated with herself.


    I laughed awkwardly, “You did a great job though, we lived. And learned. And somehow y’all are all still only level ten.” I tried to make light of it, the conversation was steering in a direction none of us would like.


    “Only?” Jeong asked.


    “Yeah? What levels are y’all?” I asked, the way he said that made me think they were lower leveled than I expected.


    “Us? I think Lynn is the highest at thirteen. I’m the lowest leveled at eleven.” Rosalia responded.


    “Really? Well… I mean this area isn’t the best for leveling…” I mumbled


    “What level are you then?” Damien asked.


    “Nearly nineteen.” I responded casually.


    He laughed, “No, seriously.”


    I just shrugged. Reid stepped into my gap in conversation and began to brag, “Yeah that isn’t all, we’ve been dragging her down for weeks now. She joined us on the second surface day after the awakening and was already level fifteen. She was only in the Underhollow for a week to get to that level and she was alone!”


    “Are you bragging that y’all delayed my leveling?”


    “I mean kinda? You pulled us along from nothing to level ten even though we were a week or more behind everyone else.”


    “Damn, she really has a death wish…” Damien muttered.


    “We all have to put our lives on the line these days.” I retorted. I frowned, I didn’t want to keep disagreeing with everything he said, but I wasn’t going to censor myself now. “Alright, well, I’ve said my piece. I think we should start with the walls and try to get people leveling. What else is there for good defense or like emergencies?”


    “Food probably?” Rosalia asked.


    “Yeah, I’d been pondering on that issue for a while, but the ground here doesn’t seem suitable for growing things.” I replied.


    “That’s not an issue, I could handle that.” Jeong interjected, “I have a plant based class, so I can grow some edible things, but they’re not great honestly.”


    I raised my eyebrows, ‘edible things’ didn’t sound like typical food, “What kind of things?”


    “Well… bark mostly. My abilities are plant related, but since I haven’t really been able to find any actual plants it defaults to trees. The bark is edible, but pretty awful.” His mouth pulled slightly to the left as he stopped talking.


    Caroline and Reid gave me a look, and I knew immediately what they were telling me. ‘If you don’t give him a potato and leave us here to eat rats and bark, we will kill you’ was painted so clearly on their faces. So I obliged them. I pulled a quarter of one out of my inventory and tossed it to him.


    His eyes lit up, he turned it around in his hand as he inspected it, likely looking at something we couldn’t see. A barely visible green light enveloped the spud and roots slowly started taking form and a small smile played on his lips. “Thank you! This helps so much! We really owe you one!” He cheered enthusiastically, well relative to his distant neutral baseline he was virtually jumping for joy.


    “So food, supplies? Weapons? And defensive structures. Am I missing anything?” Caroline asked the group.


    “Oh, yeah, weapons. I can’t believe we left out the most important part.” I laughed as I realized the people I’d wanted to level up likely didn’t have any equipment.


    “Well, we haven’t had anyone who could make items until now.” Rosalia stopped abruptly as she glanced towards Damien. She rolled the hem of her shirt between her fingers as she corrected herself. ”Or well, we haven’t since a couple days after the awakening.”


    There was a brief silence before Reid piped up, “We should promote the camp on Celes. I know it’s dangerous, but currently you’ve got vastly more to protect than can defend. If those assholes on the surface were planning to come down here and cause problems they would’ve done it already. We need capable fighters.”


    “Isn’t that too dangerous though?” Tali asked quietly. I’d forgotten she was there, both her and Noel had no presence.


    “No, I was considering this before too.” Rosalynn jumped in, “They won’t be able to get here that fast, and we’re beefing up security currently. So if there is ever a good time it’s now.”


    Damien sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “well, if you’re sure…”


    Rosalynn, Caroline, and Reid devolved into a heated debate about Celes and the best way to reach out. Reid was campaigning heavily for creating some sort of religious group around his patron god. Caro mostly didn’t want to participate and was arguing that she didn’t want to have her image shared without permission. Though she did want to post her items. Rosalynn had her hands full trying to field suggestions from the rest of the group. Talking about social media really lifted the energy around us.


    Satisfied they were busy enough I stepped away to read through the chats that had accumulated after I received my quest.


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” crosses their arms and protests that the others aren’t considering the consequences.]


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” cries and mumbles that she has no choice.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” asks what they mean.]


    [“Reflection of an Empty Throne” sighs and tells the group that they offered too good of rewards.]


    [“Divine Hammer of Blessings” exclaims that their rewards match the importance and difficulty of the quest.]


    [“Reflection of an Empty Throne” argues that wasn’t what they meant.]


    [“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” urges you to accept the quest.]


    [“Gentle Autumn Breeze” thanks you for your gift.]


    [“Unbottled Lightning” complains that watching you is boring and curses “Playful Cat Hates Yarn” for inviting him.]


    [“Playful Cat Hates Yarn” clicks their tongue and states that “Unbottled Lightning” has poor taste.]


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” makes fun of “Unbottled Lightning” for having such a short attention span.]


    Surprisingly, “Unbottled Lightning” completely ignored the Playwright’s provocation. Most gods I’d seen were immature and quick to quibble with each other. Though, he might have left before the Playwright made their comment.


    I opened my mouth to ask about the rewards when Rosalynn put a hand on my shoulder. “They’re talking to you again right?” She asked.


    “Yeah…”


    “It’s bad?”


    “Seems like it. The only thing is it sounds like if I stay here I’ll gain something but lose something else? They’re talking about consequences but they’re being vague. It’s hard to tell really. Well actually… now that I’ve said it, they said consequences but it sounded more like consequences for them? Or maybe not? I dunno, the gods are always so confusing.”


    “So, we’ve talked about what we need, but where should we start?” Rosalynn asked. It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me.