A Solo Request

‘What should I do?’ Mahannana wondered. She was supposed to be at lessons until late afternoon but, when she’d gotten to the library, Elfrida-Chan had begged her for a rain check. She’d stayed up too many nights in a row working on some project and ended up felt tired, sick, and burnt out. Mahannana wasn’t going to force her to teach today but, unfortunately, she now had the whole day to herself. Selena and Bisky had taken a quest that involved traveling outside of the town and had left hours ago. Aqua was gone on a suply run and wouldn’t be back until evening. The tavern wasn’t open until nighttime and Lir-Chan and Omthor would be occupied with their business.

Mahannana sat on a bench in the town center, looking up at the bright sky. 'I should go to the public hall and take a quest. I’m going to lose my mind if I just sit here.’ A large shadow passed over her. “Hey, you’re the wolf-mage, right?” A raspy voice asked. Mahannana sat up strait. A muscular man with a thuggish-looking face, clad in animal skins and an insane amount of blades was standing over her. “Y-yes? Do you need something?” Mahannana asked timidly. Unlike Esmo or Bisky, this man did scare her; he looked like he’d definitely committed murder a time or two!

“You don’t need to be so scared, I’m not going to eat you!” He said gruffly. “I’m just looking to hire you.” “Hire me?” “Yeah, you take requests, right?” Mahannana felt suspicious. ‘Seems too convent, given that I’m all alone with nothing to do.’

“Yes...but normally just from the public hall. It depends on what you want from me.” The man sat down next to her, making Mahannana feel tiny. “Nothing crazy. I’m the leader of a band of raiders and we’re planning to go take out a group of earth lizards.” To the best of Mahannana’s knowelge, at least in Night World Odessy, the earth lizards were a race of wild reptillian humanoids that looked like an UFOlogist’s description of reptillian alliens. They lived in underground dens and had a compulsion to steal and hoard treasure. “I’ve never taken a combat quest aside from exterminating slimes, and I normally go on quests with my mother. I won't be any help in a fight.”

“We don’t need you to fight. We just want to hire a mage to back us up and be on healing duty, just in case. You’re one of the otherworlders who successfully helped us in that game of yours, so we figured you’d be a good bet." Mahannana recalled Nigh World Odyssey having quests where you were contracted to help various nomadic warrior groups. 'Was this guy and his group the inspiration for one of the NPC tribes?' 

" Of the otherworlders left in Umbria, you’re our best option. We heard that you’re a real magecraft prodigy, particularly with basic healing and defensive spells. That’s exactly what we need.” The man looked annoyed. “And the other people we tried to recruit freaked out and wanted nothing to do with us. You’re the only one who hasn’t been scared off. I’ll pay you five hundred gold and, if we leave now, you’ll be back by late afternoon. We probably won’t even need you, we just want to be safe.”

Mahannana was unsure whether she should take the quest or not. While it wasn’t anything all that suspicious for either fantasy adventuring or Umbria itself, it was  a higher risk situation than what she usually put herself in, and she wouldn't have her mother backing her up this time. ‘Mama probally wouldn’t be a fan of this idea...’ “Don’t worry, we’re pro’s at fighting!” The man boasted, thumping his chest. “We’ll protect you! You’ll just be on standby if one of us does something stupid. There’s thirty of us and thirty weretigers. We’ve trained the tigers to fight with us, not just transport us. We know what we're doing! I promise you, this will be completely safe.”

Mahannana considered his offer. ‘The pay is amazing! It’s not something to pass up easily, and I'll be back by the time Mama comes home. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her and she'll forgive me for being foolish if I bring back 500 gold...’ She smiled and held her hand out. “Sounds like a deal to me! I’m Mahannana, at your service.” “Thoren.” The man shook her hand with a clear look of relief on his face. “Leader of the Valkirk raiders. This means more than you know. I thought we weren’t going to be able to find a mage and would be delayed."

Mahannana stood up. “Well, I supposed we should get going then! I just need to run back home and grab my medical kits.” Thoren nodded. “Meet us back here.”

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“A kid? Serriously Thoren?!” The Valkirk raiders gathered around their leader in frustration.

 “And one of those wussy people from another world?”

 “She has maybe a month of experience!” 

“Do you want us all to frickin’ die?”

 “Oh, shut up, you lot!” Thoren shot back, holding his forehead. “Do you know how hard I tried? No one else would agree! She’s the apprentice of the keeper of the great library and is already at a skill level that takes most mages two years to reach!” The band quieted. “If any of you wanna sit around  for week waiting to find someone else, be my guest.” You could have heard a cricket peep. ‘

Just imagine they’re potatoes...’ Mahannana encouraged herself as she stayed calm and kept her smile pasted on her face. ‘I hate this! These guys are brutes! But it’s only a couple of hours and worth the money...’ Grumbling, the raiders dispersed to prepare for departure.

“Sorry, Mahannana.” Thoren sighed. “These guys are hardheaded. They’ll get over themselves. "I’ll go find someone for you to ride with.” Mahannana stared down at the ground. ‘I’ll survive. I just feel out of my comfort zone...’ 

“Hey!” A deep, cheerful voice boomed. Mahannana’s head snapped up. A red-haired raider with a giant, toothy grin was waving at her. “Looks like you’re going to ride with me, little girl!” Mahannana studied him timidly.  ‘He’s not scary! He reminds me of Aqua...if Aqua was a beat-up boxer instead of a farmer.’ “N-nice to meet you!” She bowed. ‘I’m Mahannana.” “My name's Kern. We're going to be the rear-guard, since you’re our emergency asset.” The man looked at her gently. “I know you’re probally nervous to be with a bunch of men, but I promise, they’re not at mean as they look. They love to fight, but they’re good guys, not criminals.” Mahannana nodded and followed him to his mount.

“Aww, you’re cute!” Mahannana patted the giant arctic tiger on the nose, eliciting a purr from the creature. Kern Chuckled. “Not afraid of animals, I see!” “Well, my mama is a dire wolf.” Mahannana shrugged. “Oh, I mean that my mama and I were sent here together, and she became a dire wolf, not that I’m half wolf!” “Oh, that’s fortunate! You’re not stuck in this world alone.” Mahannana nodded in agreement. “Yep. I’m used to big animals cause she’s huge now. Normally I’d be questing with her, but I'm taking a solo job today..”

“I see. Well, we can’t careless since you have someone waiting for you, can we?” Kern laughed. “Don’t worry, I'll protect you if anything happens! I’m a big brother, so you can trust me! Being badass is what I was born to do!” Mahannana laughed at his Bisky-level bravado.

‘This might be a more intense quest than I’m used to, but all I have to do is be an extra body and get paid! This’ll be a snap!’