TBATE-ONESHOTS

A Royal Heart 3

Tessia Eralith POV

"Where exactly are we going?" Sarah snapped with annoyance.

We were currently walking through the adventurer's hall in Xyrus, with Grey leading the way. Elijah stood close to him on his right while I walked slightly behind him on his left, with Sarah beside me on my left.

Arthur looked back at us over his shoulder and smiled, "We're going to do the quest, remember?"

"Obviously," Sarah retorted rudely. "I was there when you two decided to team up."

I looked back at Sarah with a raised brow and mouthed, "Stop."

Sarah bit the corner of her lip in a pout and looked to the side, grumbling something under her breath. I looked back forward, seeing Grey smiling amusingly.

Grey raised the paper he was holding in his hand, "In order to do the quest, we have to accept it."

I tilted my head curiously, "What do you mean? Don't we just take the paper and go do the quest?"

Grey chuckled and shook his head, "No. We have to take it to the mission counter and get it approved."

"Mission counter?" I said, perplexed.

Grey looked at me curiously, "Did you do any research before becoming an adventurer?"

My face felt slightly warm in embarrassment, and I looked to the side, "I did some." I looked back at Grey, seeing he was looking at me with a small smile. "What?" I asked curiously.

Grey slightly shook his head, "It's nothing." He held up the paper again, "The mission counter is where we go to accept the quest. They mark it down as taken and alert the outposts, the guild hall in the Beast Glades, and the inn that the mission is in progress. This way, they don't have multiple teams doing the same quest simultaneously."

I raised my brow in surprise, "Wow, I didn't know quest-taking was that intricate. I guess there's a lot more to adventuring than I initially thought."

"Don't worry," Grey said with a smile. "Just stick close to me, and I'll show you the ropes. Just think of me as your adventuring teacher." 

The right corner of my lip curved up into an amusing smirk, "Oh? So then what should I call you? Professor Grey?"

Grey chuckled, "While that does have a ring to it, how about you just call me Grey."

I nodded playfully, "I suppose I can do that."

Grey smiled slightly, and we continued to look at each other briefly before he looked back forward, and we continued on our way. I looked back at Sarah and saw she had a narrowed gaze locked on Grey.

"You're going to burn a hole through his back if you keep staring at him like that," I jested.

"Good," Sarah said and looked at me. "He doesn't need to be all chummy with you."

I sighed, "He's just being kind. Can you please play nice for a little bit? He's going out of his way to help us out after all."

Sarah rolled her eyes, "No promises."

I sighed and looked back forward, following Grey. We eventually made it to a large booth that had eight windows with a guild employee standing behind each of them. We walked up to one of the free windows, and Grey handed them the piece of paper.

"Good evening, ma'am," Grey said with a smile. "We'd like to accept this quest, please."

The middle-aged woman with black hair and blue eyes took the paper and looked at it curiously. She read over its contents before looking back at us.

"Let me make sure the quest isn't taken," She said and opened up a booklet beside her and rifled through the pages. After a few moments, she closed the book and looked back at us. "The quest is still available. May I see your adventurer cards, please?" She asked kindly with a smile.

Grey and the boy beside him took out their cards from their dimensional ring and handed them to the lady. Sarah and I followed suit, and she took our cards.

"Grey Wilbeck, A-class. Elijah Shard, A-class. Cecilia Ackerman, B-class. And Sarah Wright, B-class," She said as she read through the cards. She looked back at us and handed us our cards back. "It seems you have met the requirements for the quest. I'll let the other posts know that the quest is taken. Should you decide to forfeit the quest, please let us know."

Grey nodded, "Will do."

The lady stamped the paper, rolled it up, and handed it to Grey, who stored it in his dimensional ring.

Grey turned to us and smiled, "Alright, now that we got the quest approved, we're good to go."

"Where to now?" I asked curiously.

"That depends. Do either of you need any supplies before we go to the Beast Glades?" Grey asked.

Sarah and I exchanged a look, and she shook her head. I looked back at Grey and smiled, "No, we should be good."

Grey nodded, "In that case, we will head for the portal to the Beast Glades. From there, we will head to the dungeon."

I stepped out of the way and gestured to him with a playful smile, "After you, my adventuring teacher."

Grey looked at me and chuckled amusingly before walking off. I smiled and began to follow him when I felt Sarah tap my left shoulder. I looked at her over my shoulder, seeing she had a narrowed gaze on me.

I raised a brow, "What?"

"You don't need to be chummy with him either, you know," Sarah said.

I shrugged and smiled, "I'm being kind as well."

Sarah grumbled, and I looked back forward as we followed Grey. We eventually made our way out of the adventures building and into Xyrus City.

Xyrus City was beautiful, with white buildings and lush green grass. Plus, the most interesting part was that it was floating in the sky. And since it was a floating city, it had a numerous amount of portals that gave you access throughout all of Dicathen. That's why Xyrus City had many merchants of different races who could go back and forth between the human, elven, and dwarven kingdoms as they wished.

"You coming?" Grey called out.

I looked toward him, seeing he had walked away while I was too busy admiring the city.

"Oh, yeah!" I responded and walked toward him.

I descended the steps of the adventures building and caught up to Grey and Elijah. They turned around, and we followed them as we walked through Xyrus City. I looked around, seeing multiple shops of different varieties and races, which I found interesting, and made a mental note to see them later.

We made our way through the city until we reached the portal, which was shaped like an arch. There were two guards who stood next to the portal and watched us as we approached.

"Identification is required to enter the Beast Glades," One of the guards said.

One by one, we all handed the guard our identification cards. Once they verified we were authorized to enter the Beast Glades, they stood to the side to let us pass.

Grey and Elijah walked through first, and Sarah walked through at the same time as me, refusing to let me out of her sight. A wave of vertigo washed over me as I walked through the portal, and my senses cleared as I appeared on the other side, and I went wide-eyed in surprise.

The chirps of birds, occasional cries and roars of beasts, and the constant sound of water flowing and filling the background all created an enticing symphony of nature. The sight of tall trees and numerous hills covered in various plants and shrubs made it hard to believe that this beautiful landscape was filled with magical beasts capable of killing even the strongest mages. With a clear blue sky overhead, a radiant sun beaming down on me with a blanket of comforting warmth and crisp air around me, I couldn't believe my eyes and ears.

"Woah," I breathed out. "This is amazing."