THE MOMENT
"...So what am I supposed to do with this?" The wizard looked down at the assorted items on the counter, then shrugged at Denise with the question. The Mage's Guild was mostly empty with only a handful of adventurers browsing the quest board. Denise was proud to have completed her first quest on her own. At least, she thought she was done, but the wizard didn't seem interested in taking the fairie wings and spider legs she collected.
"Maybe it's only one set at a time...," Denise shook her head and took back some of the creature parts. She left behind two small bundles; one held two fairy wings and the other held eight spider legs. "I want to turn these in!" she smiled at the wizard. He looked down, then at her again.
"...So what am I supposed to do with this?" he asked again.
"You asked for it!" She said. "I hunted fairies and spiders, you're supposed to give me a random Ability in exchange!" Denise knew it was useless to get mad at an NPC; but, she wasn't mad at him. She was afraid that she was going to have to ask someone for help. That in itself wasn't too bad, but she only knew one person she could ask and she didn't want to be a bother. She'd spent the previous day with a guide showing her around; but, she had so much to learn they didn't get to actual questing. It was theoretically simple; but, she was already stuck.
"Maybe I need to engage him first...," she was still learning and she knew that some NPCs needed to be on topic first. She cleared the counter, then nodded at the wizard trainer.
"Hi! I'm a new wizard and I'm on an extermination quest to kill fairies and spiders," she said. He looked at her and smiled with a nod.
"Good, good!" he chuckled. "I sense great talent within you, I look forward to seeing you rise through the ranks! Bring me two fairy wings and eight spider legs, and I'll give you a little something," he said.
"I have them already!" Denise dropped two of the bundles on the counter. "Here you go!" His genial smile was gone and he looked over the items, then at her.
"....So what am I supposed to do with this?" he asked.
"Give me a reward!" She was mildly annoyed by now.
"Hi, hello. You doing okay?" a new voice startled Denise and she turned to see a teenager with brown hair, and a tall, white wolfdog next to her. The teen wore a holster around her hip with an emerald, crystalline gun in it.
"Hi, thank you," Denise nodded. At least she didn't have to bother the friend she made yesterday. "He won't reward me for the quest...," she explained with a gesture at the two bundles.
"I'm Astra, and this is my buddy, Ben," the teen smiled with the introduction of her and her wolf friend. Denise returned her own friendly grin.
"Denise," she said. "Hi, Ben," she waved at the beats and it gave her a half-bark as a greeting.
"I'm not a wizard, so I don't know that quest, did he give it to you?" Astra asked. Denise nodded.
"His name is on the quest, it says 'Requested by Wizard Trainer'."
"The quest says that... but did he give you the quest?" Astra asked again. This time, Denise understood the question and shook her head.
"I got it from the quest board...," she tilted her head toward it.
"That's going to be a different turn-in then," Astra replied. "It doesn't appear until after you have everything, so you might not have noticed it. There should be a 'Complete Quest' button on the quest when you can finish it.
"Really?" Denise giggled, but she made a flicking gesture with her wrist. Her Slate appeared; but, only she could read the menus on the transparent glass pane. Astra and everyone else saw it as a smokey-grey Slate that was unreadable. She navigated through the menus and found the quest journal, and there it was. She pushed the screen and immediately she received several new notifications. Three lines indicated she completed the quest three times with three more notices that detailed the items she got as a reward. "Whoa... that was easy. Thanks!" Denise said.
"No problem, feel free to ask me if you get stuck somewhere again," the teen said. As she gave the offer, a Friend Request appeared in Denise's view. She accepted it.
"I just might!" she smiled. "I'm still very new. Can I ask why you're here?" she was curious about Astra now. "You said you're not a Wizard... are you a Spellslinger?" she gestured at the gun.
"Yep!" Astra nodded. "I can use Wizard skills; but, I'm here for a quest too," she said. She turned and placed a medium-sized bundle on the counter.
"....So what am I supposed to do with this?" The Wizard looked at Astra with a shrug.
"Oh, sorry, got distracted," she giggled at Denise. "Wrong one." She collected the bundle and replaced it with a similar one that had a darker shade of red.
"OH MY!" The wizard gasped. "You've slain a gorgon! This deserves a great reward!" The trainer collected the item, then replaced it with a heavy, dictionary-sized tome. The thick book had a bright orange cover with flame details on the front.
"You got a grimoire!?" Denise asked. She knew just enough about equipment to know a grimoire was on the higher end of rarity.
"Yeah...," Astra sighed. "It's random though, and that's not the one I'm looking for. Hey, you're still new, you don't have one yet do you?" she asked. Denise shook her head.
"Well, here you go," Astra collected the book, then offered it to Denise. "I don't have a use for it, you take it. Welcome to the AlterNet."