Ichor Cell-Chapter 49: First Mission III

Alex briefly hesitated about whether to pursue or not, but the choice was quickly made for him.
The goblins scattered in all directions, moving surprisingly quick. He could chase one, maybe even two, but not all of them. Not without leaving Duran and Grenil alone and unprotected in obviously hostile territory.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Damn it.”
‘How come we never encountered anything like this in Orenthia?’
He wondered, chalking it up to all the other oddities surrounding that place.
Grenil looked up from where he was crouched. “Is it over?”
The shopkeeper had spent the entire fight cowering on the ground, trying to make himself as small as possible. Luckily, thanks to Duran’s added help, he got out of the encounter unscathed.
Alex gave the clearing one last sweep, making sure that none of the bodies were moving. “Yeah. It’s over.”
He turned towards Grenil and offered a hand, pulling the old man to his feet. Though covered in dirt, the old man looked otherwise unscathed, which was the important part.
Duran stepped in as well, scratching the space under his missing arm.
“Check on the plants real quick.” Alex suddenly remembered. “Make sure they haven’t been crushed or something.”
Grenil picked up the basket from where it had fallen. Stalks of duskmint had spilled across the forest floor, but most of the herbs were intact—just a bit dirtier than before. Grenil carefully checked each sprig, muttering under his breath as he reorganized them.
“We didn’t lose many,” he said. “Some are crushed, but it should be fine.”
Alex nodded. “Good enough. Let’s go.”
They started toward the grove’s edge. As they stepped past one of the bodies, a new thought tugged at Alex.
Proof.
They needed to present some sort of proof if the guild wanted evidence or tried to downplay what happened.
Turning back, he ignored his companions’ questions as he rummaged through the battlefield, searching for a weapon. Picking up a crude dagger, he set about sawing of one of the goblins’ ears, quickly wrapping it in a piece of cloth and tossing it in the basket.
“What the hell?” Grenil made a sound of disgust.
“It’s in case they ask for proof when we this.” He explained. “I’m gonna try to get some sort of hazard pay for increased mission danger.”
The old man showed a look of enlightenment. “I see.”
“Alright,” Alex rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get out of here.”
The walk back felt longer than the walk in. Alex kept an eye out for the last few pieces of duskmint they needed on the way; every so often he stopped to pluck another sprig. By the time they reached the edges of the grove, they had what they needed—and a few extra in case any were too damaged.
His mind wasn’t on herbs, though.
He kept replaying the ambush in his head. The angle they came from. How many he had dropped instantly. How many he technically could have finished off if he’d reacted just a little faster. How the last four had escaped. Annoying, but not worth losing sleep over.
He pushed the frustration down.
The road leading back to Luterra was quiet, with only the crunch of dirt under their boots breaking the stillness. Grenil walked close behind Alex, keeping the basket and its grisly contents at arm’s length. Duran trailed just a little behind them, glancing over his shoulder in case any stragglers found the courage to come back.
By the time the city walls came into view, all three men were tired in different ways. Duran’s nerves were frayed. Alex looked thoughtful, occasionally muttering to himself. Grenil was just good old tired, the long walk to and from the forest having taken a toll on his old bones.
When they reached the gate, the guards stiffened immediately.
“Stop right there!” One barked, stepping forward and lowering his spear in Alex’s direction. “State your name and business.”
“What the…” Alex was puzzled by the sudden hostility. When they had arrived a few nights ago, they had been let through without much of a fuss, so this seemed a bit unwarranted.
“I’m an adventurer.” He said quickly, raising his arm into the air and showing them the badge.
The guard paused, his eyes squinting through the dark at Alex’s hand.
“Toss it here.” He barked, his grip on the spear tight.
Alex obliged.
“Stefan!” The man called over his shoulder. “Come take a look at this! Check if it’s real.”
The other guard approached cautiously, spear held loosely in one hand. Bending down without breaking eye contact, he picked up the badge and glanced down at it, quickly confirming its authenticity.
The first guard finally took a step back, his posture relaxing. “Very well, then. Apologies for the misunderstanding.”
The other guard stepped closer, squinting. “Do you need a healer? You look... rough.”
Alex glanced down at himself, finally realising why they were so aggressive. Although, contrary to the norm, he had barely been injured in the fight, his clothes were still drenched in blood—just not his own.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, the infringement.
“Oh, this.” He waved away their concern. “This isn’t mine. We encountered some goblins on the way back, so I had to take care of it.”
“Goblins?” the guard asked in surprise. “You sure you’re fine?”
“Positive.”
A pause. Then the guard nodded, satisfied but not entirely happy about it.
“Alright. Sorry for stopping you,” he said, extending his hand forward. “And sorry about this. I know you’ve had a rough night, but rules are rules. You know how it is.”
Alex paid the toll without complaint. Thirty coppers later, the gate creaked open, and the trio stepped back into Luterra.
Inside the walls, the streets were calm, lanterns burning in their usual soft glow. No one else was out at this hour; even most night owls had gone home. Alex headed toward the Rusted Fox.
“We need the slip first,” he said.
Grenil nodded. “Good thinking.”
Back at the inn, their room was exactly as they’d left it. Alex snatched the mission slip off the table, tucked it into his pocket, and headed straight back out. There was no point delaying; if the guild was still open—and it always was—they might as well get the job done.
The guild hall was exactly the same as last night. Warm lights. A few adventurers lingering around the job boards. A couple of clerks at the desks. Though the number of people was considerably lower than yesterday; it made sense, fewer people were likely to be in the guild at such an unreasonable hour.
They scanned the desks for Polly, but none of the people manning the desks were her. Evidently, the receptionist was off duty tonight, or simply busy with something else.
“Of course she’s not here,” he muttered.
Grenil shifted the basket in his arms. “Then we queue?”
“Yeah,” Alex sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”
They joined the shortest of the three lines. Only two people ahead of them—a tired-looking man and a young woman arguing over a failed escort assignment. The man finished quickly and left. The woman argued for several more minutes, to the point where Alex considered intervening just to end this farce, before finally leaving with a huff.
Then it was their turn.
This receptionist was also a woman, though she looked to be in her late thirties with neat braids and a particular kind of soul crushing exhaustion in her eyes that only working a retail job for many years could produce. She looked up, ready to greet them—and paused when her gaze landed on Alex’s shirt.
“…Evening,” she said, tone immediately concerned. “Do you—?”
“No, I don’t need a healer.” Alex interrupted. “And yes, I’m sure. I’m here to complete a task and submit a about an incident that occurred while we were completing it.”
The woman cast him an unsure glance but decided to leave him be.
“Very well. Please proceed with the task first.” She shuffled some papers around her desk and pulled out a form.
Alex handed over the mission slip and set the basket on the counter. “Duskmint from Westwood Grove,” he said. “Wood-ranked gathering request.”
The receptionist lifted the cloth covering the herbs, inspecting them with one by one. Despite the careful handling, she completed the check very quickly and wrote something on her form
She reached for the mission slip next, comparing the listed amount to the basket’s contents. Then she slid the basket aside and looked at Alex again.
“Great.” She said. “This matches the request. A few are damaged, but you’ve brought back enough whole ones to compensate. And you said you wanted to an incident that occurred during the mission?”
“Yeah,” Alex said.
He pulled out the wrapped cloth and placed it on the counter. The receptionist blinked at the sight of it, then opened the bundle.
“…I see.” She said, her expression going surprisingly serious. “You encountered goblins?”
“Yep.” Alex confirmed. “A group of them. A dozen or so. They jump- sorry, attacked us a few hours ago, in the forest. I was hoping to get some sort of compensation for an incorrect danger rating.”
The receptionist nodded and pulled a fresh form from a drawer, this one a different colour from the first. She tapped her quill on the paper. “Please describe the incident.”
Alex did so, keeping it simple.
“We were gathering. Everything was normal at first, then they suddenly ambushed us out of nowhere. Twelve goblins jumped out of the bushes. Some had spears, some clubs, a couple with knives. They tried to surround us.”
“And how did you fight back? A dozen goblins is quite a lot even for an average bronze, much less a wood. Unless you came to the guild with pre-existing experience, as some do.” the receptionist asked.
“Yes, I did.” Alex said. “Managed to kill most of them. A few escaped. They retreated deeper into the grove.”
She scribbled notes quickly, pausing only to ask for clarifications:
“Any goblins larger than normal?”
“No.”
“Their equipment?”
“Nothing beyond what I’d expect. Some crude handcrafted tools and a handful of rusty old weapons.”
“Any unusual markings? Tattoos? Strange behaviour?”
“No. Just… coordinated.”
She nodded again, satisfied.
“That matches the usual behaviour of small goblin parties,” she said. “Thank you. We appreciate your .”
She set the parchment aside and picked up the mission slip again.
“Now, for the mission reward,” she said. “Under normal circumstances, this task pays four silver. However…”
Alex’s expression brightened as she drew a line through the four, replacing it with an eight.
“…guild policy is to automatically double the reward for Wood and Bronze missions if the danger rating proves false.”
Grenil's eyes widened. “Double?”
“Yes,” she said, sliding the coins toward them. “Eight silver.”
Then she reached into a separate drawer and withdrew two more. “And an additional two silvers for ing a monster threat near the city.”
Alex couldn’t stop a wide grin from spreading across his face. Ten silvers for a single night’s work, more than double what they’d expected. It was hard not to be happy, especially when you considered that this converted into about a grand back on earth. This was the type of income he dreamed about before.
‘Enough for a whole five days at the inn!”
He thought, his enthusiasm suddenly dimming
. ‘We need to get out of that place.’
“That’s… generous,” he said.
“It’s standard procedure.” She shrugged. “And it’s not a massive expense on the lower levels. If we tried implementing a similar policy for Gold or Platinum mission, now
that
would get tricky.”
The receptionist tucked the wrapped goblin ear bundle into a labeled wooden box, then filed the incident in a slot next to her desk.
“We’ll send a Bronze team to inspect Westwood Grove in the morning,” she continued. “Just to verify numbers and location. If they find anything bigger than a small roaming band, a formal request will be posted.”
Alex felt a slight spike of interest at that.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning,” she clarified, “if there’s evidence of more goblins, or a den forming nearby, we will put up a guild wide subjugation notice.”
“Guild wide?” Alex widened his eyes, surprised at how seriously they seemed to take mere goblins. “I guess we’ll have to check the board tomorrow.”
Grenil let out a tired sigh. “I’d rather not go back there.”
“You won’t have to,” Alex said. “Not unless you want to.”
Duran tilted his head. “A subjugation request would be profitable.”
Alex smirked. “Exactly.”
The receptionist offered a weary smile. “Anything else you’d like to submit?”
“No,” Alex said. “That’s everything.”
“Then you’re all set.” She stamped the mission slip, slid it into a different slot, and gestured to the side. “Next.”
They stepped away from the counter. Grenil practically sagged with relief the moment they were out of the receptionist’s direct line of sight. Duran rolled his shoulder, still protective of the stump under his sleeve.
Alex tucked the coins into his pocket. Ten silvers. Not bad. A good haul for their first ever assignment.
He exhaled slowly, the tension of the forest finally starting to loosen.
“Alright,” he said. “Let’s head back. I’m done for tonight.”
Grenil didn’t argue. “Agreed.”
They stepped away from the reception desk, turning to the exit. Alex rolled his shoulders one more time, blood stiffening on his shirt. A smell of blood, dirt and something deeply unpleasant wafted into his nose.
“Oh, right, by the way.” Alex quickly turned back to the receptionist, interrupting the young man who was trying to chat her up. “Does the guild have any facilities to wash up or something? I’m kinda filthy over here.”
The woman smiled at him gratefully as security blurred over and yanked the man away from the desk, sending him out the front door. “There’s a shower in the back, near the training area. It’s fairly obvious.” She kindly pointed out. “It’s free for members to use, so go nuts.
“Though I’d recommend you buy some new clothes first.” She wrinkled her nose at his bloodstained garments.