Chapter 34: Peace

The morning had come as usual, however Walker and Midnight had slept a bit later than everyone else. So much so that Walker was just getting to the kitchen as Garret left for his work.

Upon seeing Walker, Lisa bounced up with a smile "good morning!" And promptly ran to her room. Walker was even more curious, was her work that important right now? He began to think of his sister as a different person.

Midnight seemed to have already eaten as his mother had been working in the kitchen all morning. Everyone seemed to have gained a weakness for feeding Midnight. Walker grabbed some bread from the cupboard and began to eat while noticing Clara had sent him some possible quests in a new section of his system. Looking through them there were three that stood out ; one requiring the party to assist supply delivery from the adventurers guild to the alchemist guild which was an expected quest due to the influx of materials from the locust swarm. The second was a gathering quest for various herbs near the Sun hallow forest, the main being a yellow flower known as sunflowers which grew wildly in the area due to the sun and warmth of the area. It is used mainly as a cooking and ground in to oils for other potions. The third was a reoccurring quest to head to the garbage facilities and exterminate giant rats, this may make an acceptable pay due to how gross the job was but Walker couldn't feed something so gross to Midnight and personally didn't want to smell like the facilities.

The only one that stood out was the gathering quest, the party would be able to take some time off of fighting and focus on something more normal for their tier. Not to mention taking a few extra for Hilda.

After thinking for another moment he decided to accept it and prepared to gather his party for a relaxing day.

In the upper floors of the guild.

Hushed voices could be heard in rapid conversation.

"So you'll be their manager good good, I sent a few shadows to guard them already but I'm sure we don't have long before something happens. Nobles and even royalty will make their move soon." A strong deep voice said.

Clara could be heard responding, " yes sir, putting them together was really a great decision. They may be young now but within a few months I expect their progress to explode. I worry that once royalty makes their move they may try to monopolize them but having your backing guild Master, will protect them."

An older man's voice chimes in at this point "if they grow fast they will soon be going farther and farther for their quests. We know heading to certain areas is safer than others due to which kingdom rules. The beast-men may be more hot headed but not much to worry, dwarves can't be bothered to leave their mountains not to mention any of the wise dragons. However the elves and demons could be a problem. Those elves may try to gain them to continue their fights against the demons. Same for the demons but the real worry is how sneaky they can be. Honestly the line between demon and monster is way too thin these days."

"It may be wise to reach out to the castle ourselves then, we can establish an understanding early so when other kingdoms come knocking at the door we are United." Clara saw the opportunity they now had and this seemed the best course.

Back to walker who he now made it to the South Gate

"According to the quest we need five bundles of 10 sunflowers and two pots of the roots. Think taking a few extra to bring back for ourselves won't be an issue.There is a note that we shouldn't take too many from one location so we will need to spread out our efforts." Walker gave the final review of their requirements.

The reward may only be 5G each but the exp will also be higher due to the nature of the quest which was lacking as 10exp each by their systems.

Overall walking to the area was not too tough and they quickly spotted the tall yellow flowers. Midnight didn't seem to be interested as she began hunting for newts in the area however that proved harder than expected due to a few clouds blocking the sun. She soon gave up and began following Su, as Su was walking to find the best flowers to pick.

Gil and Remey had Taken up the process of harvesting the roots while Walker quickly managed to assemble four bundles.

'Benevolent harvesting has been taken from the herbalists' system Due to users' repeated actions. Would the user like to learn benevolent harvesting?'

"Oh! Yes" walker was surprised not expecting a skill.

'Skill benevolent harvesting has been learned.

Benevolent harvesting- 0 mana cost

When harvesting various plant life the user is able to take from the plant in a way that allows the plant to grow back in a stronger and more efficient manner. Long term pruning can lead to overall better quality growth.'

This skill did not seem very important in the short term but if Walker was able to take the time to return here this skill could greatly influence the growth of sunflowers let alone any other plants he harvested in the future. Upon thinking on this subject he decided he will bring a few flowers to harvest seeds for planting and ask Gil's mother for assistance come growing season.

There was a slight breeze pushing the clouds along leaving the party in a relaxing atmosphere. After a few more hours of harvesting they had gathered the required 5 bundles and an additional five one for each of them along with two pots of roots.

The trip back was a bit tougher with the additional weight not wanting to damage the flowers by placing them in walkers inventory. But there was no problem traveling all the way to the guild. Clara had already prepared the reward and was awaiting them at the counter.

"Welcome back, I'm glad you chose a gathering quest today. I'm sure it did wonders to work away the stresses of yesterday. Please follow me to room 1 and quickly complete the quest after I examine the herbs. After, I have someone I would like to introduce you to." Clara flashed them a brilliant smile as she began leading them upstairs.