Chapter 88: CHPT 88: Heroes don’t Mourn.
Claude jogged down the dirt road under the pale white glow of the moon with Frosty at his side. He ran faster than usual, finding the increased intensity steered his mind off the path of death, hatred and tragedy. Also, Frosty seemed to appreciate it.
By the time he reached the gates, he already double his daily exercise requirements of 90 minutes. The effect left him feeling a little less anxious and jumpy as he approached the guards to be let in.
"Hello, sir. What brings you to the gates of Sky...." the tallest guard trailed off as he remembered who Claude was. The guards behind him caught on as well and looked away guiltily.
"I'm a bronze ranked unregistered Hero here for a Night Run, sir." Claude responded despite knowing they knew him.
"O-of course, good luck on your Night Run." The lead guard said.
Claude watched the guard fumble with his keys as he unlocked the gate. His body reeked of fear and sweat, making Claude confused and hungry all at the same time.
Eventually the gates creaked and groaned from the guard pushing them open to let him in.
"Thanks." Claude said before resuming his job with Frosty into the city of SkyHaven.
He'd been in this city countless times, but still found the initial experience foreign. Civilization in general was odd to him, so crowded— and smelly.
The polarizing switch from Daytime SkyHaven to Nighttime SkyHaven was in full swing. Store owners that didn't work nights closed up their shops with the quickness of someone who's been robbed before, and the lights permeating through apartment windows dimmed in a vain attempt to avoid attention.
In contrast, the batwing doors of bars were flapping back and forth like actual bat wings as a massive influx of regulars came in to get their nightly fix of alcohol and rejection from the opposite sex.
Claude slowed down once he was within walking distance of the SkyLight guildhall. His leg muscles hummed with life from the long run and his heart raced in anticipation for a night of much needed progress.
Once he was out of the vast area meant for common folk including; bars, supermarkets and merchants selling a variety of things. He entered the area for Heroes. The smell of burning metal from weapon-smiths, leathers and sweat rammed into his nose all at once.
The guildhall stood down the cobblestone street like a hub for Heroes. They poured in ready to start a long night of monster slaying. Claude felt a bit of anxiety as he approached the building, Frosty did his best to make him face his fears by planting his muscled head against Claude's backside and pushing him towards the building.
"Alright, alright I'm going." He said before speeding up and heading to the intimidating building.
Once he reached the doors of the guildhall, he could hear everyone inside settling in and chatting amongst themselves. The footsteps of some people went straight ahead of him to the Quest Board where they pulled off their strips while others waited in line to the right. But, the vast majority waited at the tables on the left side. His enhanced senses did nothing to calm his anxiety and discomfort.
"Fuck it." He said before walking inside.
The very second he entered, a large portion of the hall silenced themselves. Other Night Runners who weren't interested in gossip kept up their conversation as he entered the line leading to the front desk.
After waiting for 5 or so minutes, he heard just about everything the Heroes had to say about him. Everything from, people simply feeling bad for him to excited conspiracy theorists who thought he killed them for their loot.
He stood at the back of the line just as jumpy and anxious as he felt before exercising everyday. Only now, he was twice as angry and fighting off the urge to transform and let loose on everyone inside the guildhall. Verdant green embers danced behind his eyes every time he heard another Hero mention his name amidst the chorus of jumbled conversation.
"I need to get the hell out of here." He thought while Frosty clung to his side supportively.
Eventually, the man in front of him turned to join the tables of Heroes and Claude was left facing the lady behind the front desk, Ilka.
She brandished her warm and open smile, until her blue eyes recognized the man in front of her. A sudden wave of sadness hit Claude's nose and body. In unison with the scent, Ilka's face changed into an expression of the pain that matched what he smelled.
"[Quite the sympathetic lady.]" Arne said while Claude approached the front desk.
"Hello Ilka, I have a question about the Quests." Claude said in an attempt to glide over her saying anything along the lines of "I'm sorry for your loss."
Ilka stayed silent for a moment, looking at him with disbelief, "Allb—Carter, what are you doing here? Why aren't you at home mourning?" She asked with tears giving a glossy tint to her blue eyes.
Claude sighed angrily before answering. "Mourning does nothing to prevent past mistakes."
Ilka blinked a few times in surprise, "Burying ourselves in our work are we?" She said while itching her hair nervously.
"Uhhh.....sure. Now, is there a team requirement for Infested Areas?" Claude asked.
"Yes!...but given your circumstances I'm sure your not too eager to join a new one..." she trailed off nervously before continuing, "I'll give you a pass! Plus, people don't tend to go into Infested Areas at such a low level since the loot isn't as...promising as it is in the Tangents."
"Thanks, Ilka." Claude said without meeting her eyes before turning and heading to the Quest Board.
"Carter."
Claude turned around in response to her calling his name— alias.
She looked like she wanted to say something but settled for something else internally before vocalizing her thoughts. "Despite what people are saying, I know you had nothing to do with it. Also, I'm sorry you've had to hear them talk about it so carelessly."
Claude thought he'd be angry from hearing things like that, but instead he just felt....tired.
"People talk. That's just how it is." He said before heading to the Quest Board.
Once he reached it, he suddenly received a in depth flashback of his first time meeting Chadwick and the rest of them. He looked at the side of the floor where he stood, almost watching it happen again.
"[Claude...Claude! You ok?]" Arne suddenly said.
"Uhh...erhm...yes I'm fine." Claude said with a light shake of his head. The vision was suddenly gone and a pain in his chest came booming to life.
With his focus regained, he looked over the Quest Board for Infested Areas of a low level.
All he saw were Tangents of various levels located all over the outskirts of the city. He looked over the entirety of the board two more times to confirm that there weren't any Quests for Infested Areas.
"That's not possible is it, Arne?"
"[It most certainly isn't. There's too many Tangents releasing monsters for there to be no Infested Area Quests.]"
Claude thought the same thing. He defeatedly flicked a damage strip on a medium level Tangent as he thought about where they could be.
To his surprise there was a different colored paper beneath the Tangent Quest he just lifted.
"Hold on.." he thought as he pulled up the paper.
Beneath it was an entry on an Infested Area full of Wood Elves in the west.
"They're hiding the Infested Areas?"
"[No, I just think they've gone undone for so long that people essentially skipped them.]" Arne said in surprise.
Claude quickly went down the board to the lower ranked Tangents and began lifting the papers up to see which Infested Area he'd go to.
"Dire Rats.....Kobolds.....Undead...hmmmm"
"I would go with the Undead due to my sword. But this Infested Area has a silver tag on it." Claude thought to himself.
He looked around for the bronze Areas for a while longer before settling on one.
He quickly snatched the paper off the wall and headed to his new destination with Frosty close behind.
"[Goblins. This should be fun.]"
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_Avatar0FFury_ Hey thanks for reading!!! Sorry for the late upload. How do you guys feel about goblins? Also thanks for the powerstones, alex99, Adam_Ketchum, Shinso_lannoto101, and Love2Read26!!! I’ll upload much earlier tommorow as well.
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