Chapter 132: Gathering Quest

"I told you to accept the extermination quests, Sidric," Darwyn started. He seemed disappointed by the gathering quests.

"Well, our resources are enough to accept Hunting quest, for now," Sidric remarked. "That is why we will go slow with gathering."

"Remember," Keesha added. "We bought pieces of equipment after our last quests, that includes your noble armor and sword."

One of the key features of a dependable party was their Knights. A good knight will determine how a party will succeed in quests. The rest will just follow.

Master Will said: "A Knight must not rely on speed alone; balance is the key to being a good knight." Ned thought as he agreed with how Sidric manages his team. Knights come first. Since a knight was a must for any party with their overall versatility: a knight could attack, defend, or support.

Sidric managed the team to his own capabilities. He let Keesha handle the potions, and ordered Malik to give their rations to Ned since he was the team's porter.

Ned watched the team, especially Sidric ordered his team and managed them accordingly to their roles. Which gave Ned a good impression of the warrior.

Aside from Rickart (Rouge) and the Malik (Runner), who will scout in advance for any potential threats, the rest will gather the Olive Zest Herb, which includes the disagreeing knight, and for some reason, Sidric just snubbed Darwyn's complains. The quests will end depending on their leader and if they reached the max limit weight of twenty kilos. Aside from their specific roles, Erin the Looter will scout for any advance and rare herbs which will be accompanied by their scouts. Sidric's organizing of the team shows his experience of being a leader.

After officially introducing Ned and Erin, the team left for the Du'kki forest. It took them half an hour to reach the Milestone harbor (one of the six harbour at the shores of Sudden Plate) which was beside a long and massive river. Ned remembered the raging waves he heard the first day he arrived at the lift of Bogblot going to Sudden Plate. The waterfall which they called the Cataracta Waterfall flushed its never-ending waves at the edges of Bogblot city connecting the Hunter dominated city of Sudden Plate.

The team, together with hundreds of other Hunters, waited in line as the boat, iron made; twenty puddles on each side, a little bigger than Cuttlewitch Lobby.

The team boarded the ship with them standing side by side. After a moment of seeking space, the team organized near the captain's cabin.

"We will try to avoid hunting magical beasts if possible," Sidric said. "After we collected enough herbs, we will decide to proceed hunting. Isashil guides us to not encounter wandering magical beasts."

In front of him was Darwyn, Erin, and Malik, to his side was Keesha, almost clinging to Sidric, while Ned and Rickart poled behind the team. Ned watched the other hunters passed by behind the team as the ship racked back and forth. One kid looked pale, ran at the edges, and puke while his team laughed at him.

"What are these wandering beasts?" Erin quizzed, raising his hand. Darwyn scuffed beside him.

Sidric eyed Darwyn and spoke: "they do not have a territory of their own. The problem with them is that their grades were hard to determine. We're lucky if It's just a Grade E Wanderer. But what if its D or C. Also, never attack beast inside their territory unless necessary."

Ned saw Rickart nodded in agreement. In terms of monster encounter. Rouges were the ones to fit the context since they do most of the scouting.

"We will only gather Olive Zest Herb with a brown crown at the tip of their leaves," Keesha said. She leaned and whispered while her hand covered partly her lips. "It wasn't a secret, but less knew about them." He then winked. She doesn't seem to have any wands or staves.

The team arrived at a harbor managed again by the Association. Walking past stone walls ( the height was almost the same as the one Bogaressi have, forty meters high and thick stones) stacked to protect the inside from any threat the island had. They reached a building ( typical Association building with green plants lined the outside and faded white hue) with the HGA signs at the top of the balcony entrance.

Only licensed Hunters were allowed to enter any HGA buildings, and it was Sidric who went alone inside to register the team, or maybe to commence the quests. After a minute or two, Sidric exited the HGA building. The paper he went inside was gone and returned with a smile. "We will be gathering at the Outer Forests far from the territory of Sinking Hounds. It was near Foxriver and the swamp of Mosswind, the forest is called Fogroot."

"Isn't it near the territory of Butrikis?" Keesha asked. "And Foxriver were filled with Bog Slimes, uhg, Bog Slimes, I hate those slimes."

"Yes," Rickart threw in a smile. "Better than the annoying Sinking Hounds."

The location changed, but the roles remained the same. The team, together with some random (hundreds) team of Hunters, exited the massive gate. The gate was almost the same high as the stone wall. The gate could be opened four times. The first gate was at the bottom, a small iron gate fitted enough for small carriages, the second gate was high enough to fit four carriages stacked all at once, the third went high, and the fourth almost touched the top of the wall.

Hunters exited the small gate. Ned's team went to the right, the very edge (almost touching the massive wall) and went walking while evading magical beasts along the way, it was almost late afternoon after they arrived at their destinations. The other Hunters that went tagging with them was nowhere to be found. Their team arrived at the Fogroot forest alone.

As a rule, the team asked Ned to never let go of his bag, their food was inside so Ned was a big part of the team.

It has been an hour since Rickart and Malik went ahead while tagging along and scouted the Foxriver and the swamp of Mosswind.

The rest of the team went picking the Olive Zest Herb. For an hour, the team gathered four kilos with ease, most of it was from Erin: fairly new and enthusiastic. While Darwyn almost had a hard time bending and picking with his body clad in armor.

Keesha stood after a long minute of bending and wiped the sweat under her double chin. "This was easier than before," she said eventually. "If we keep with our flow we might finish by tomo—"

"Quickfall!" It was Rickart the Rouge. Dagger to his left, hood to his head. "Assemble!" He ran, from time to time he almost fell hitting his foot from a massive root. Behind him was a group of yellow scaled, reptilian eyes, standing in two—Butrikis.

Butrikis alone was a normal occurrence. Not until Swamp Goblins were tagging along with their rusty axes waving midair. Butrikis and Swamp Goblins fought side by side. "They got Malik!"