Ivette

After a little resting, I noticed the infested worm decaying and it seemed like it dropped something. It looked like an orb and it had the same blue-greenish colour as the infested worm had. Yet this orb looked very shiny and I could see my own reflection when looking at it. I decided to take it with me in case it could be important later on.

As I continued walking with Nexus we dived deeper and deeper into the earth. The walking didn't last long though, and we didn't find any infested along the way. Eventually we walked into a huge cavern, which had some fluorescent crystals, dolls which seemed like training dolls and a building. There were lots of lights shining through the windows, so it must've been quite busy.

[Look Noff! Training dolls everywhere! Here you can test out new weapons or skills you acquire along the way. However much I would like you to smash these dolls' faces, I shall not bother you after that intense of a fight]

"I'll show you soon enough!" I declared with a touch too much enthusiasm, prompting curious glances from those practising with the training dolls.

Yeah, a lot of people were using the training dolls, which I found to be unexpected, since Greg told me that everyone was dying, seems like they just haven't returned to the surface yet. This place seemed really lively.

[Yo Noff, go inside the tavern.] Said Nexus commandingly.

It took me too long to notice that it was actually a tavern, but the sign at the top saying 'tavern' should've given it away… I was just a bit blind. I should mention that the tavern was quite big, much bigger than I had expected. The tavern was largely built into the rock formations from the cavern, so you could not tell its size from the outside.

The tavern was quite busy, there were lots of guys and girls drinking beer together. Though some of them didn't seem to be extremely close, so they might just be partying up together instead of being friends. Most people were quite ordinary looking, somewhat like me actually. This didn't apply to everyone though, there was one girl sitting alone and she wasn't drinking, she was actually reading. Even though she was sitting alone, it'd be impossible she wouldn't grab any attention. She looked bright red! She had very long red hair and red eyes, which seemed to be as bright as the sun itself. She was wearing an oversized dress which included a skirt, the dress itself was a mixed theme of red, black and white. The same applies to the leggings and shoes she's wearing. For some reason there was some sort of small royal-like hairband on her head, as if she was royalty.

I decided to approach her since she was the only one without a large group, which made me feel like I could actually start up some conversation.

"Hi." I said while being extremely nervous, as her beauty seemed to grow as I came closer.

"Hello." She replied cheerfully, as if happy to meet me.

I started blushing heavily, but it didn't refrain me from wanting to know what this place is, as Greg's info seemed to be given based on his pride about his equipment rather than actual intel. She started looking cutely confused as I stayed quiet for a while trying to order my thoughts together.

"What is it you're reading there?" I asked.

"Ah, this is my certificate proof of a quest completion." She said proudly.

"Certificates? Quests?"

"Yeah. This is a tavern, here you can accept quests and get rewards for completing them. I've been told every layer on earth and other celestial bodies have a tavern."

"It's quite necessary for our survival, as the infested get increasingly stronger as you get closer to earth's core where they procreate faster and are born more powerful." She explained to me.

"I see. How can I take on such quests? And what are the possible rewards?" I asked curiously.

"Rewards can be anything, sometimes the quests are tied to the tavern itself, which happens when it's a public problem. In this case the reward is usually money or equipment. There are also quests tied to individual people, those would be private quests, these quests generally offer more variety of rewards, as it's usually the individual giving it. They just post the quest here as it will gain more traction obviously." She explained passionately, as she seemed to enjoy the ambiance around her.

"Can I take on such quests? I don't really have anything besides my clothes and my weapon, so having a bit of money to buy food would be a great start!" I said with a bit of sarcasm as I was ashamed of how basic and weak I was.

"Sure! Let's go to the quest board."

The quest board seemed to be close to the bar where the tavern keeper was. Each quest had a similar layout, it looked like this:

<Quest Title>

<Mission>

<Recommended Level>

<Recommended Party Members>

<Rewards>

<Quest Owner>

Since there were barely any quests where one party member was recommended, it seemed like it was really common for people to create parties, unless one overleveled for the quest they took.

"Hmm, there's so much to choose from."

"Which level are you?" She asked.

It didn't even occur to me, even after seeing the quests, that I should have a level.

"I'm not sure, I've only defeated one Wormin, I didn't even realise there were levels until I saw these quests." I said.

"Then you're probably level one, so there's not much to choose from."

"How do I check my level and stats?" I asked while very confused.

"Just close your eyes, in your head, say: Information <name>. This should pull up all the information about you that you need." She said.

Name: Noff

Level: 1

"I only see my name and my level. There's probably nothing important about me that I should know." I said disappointingly.

[Hahahaha, that's Noff for you right there! This is what makes you, you! Embrace it with what you've got!] Said Nexus, thinking it'd be a good idea, randomly popping up and screaming this nonsense out of nowhere.

I looked frustrated, but I didn't say anything to not creep out the girl.

"Oh well, let's choose a quest." She said.

"Let's pick this one!"

Wormins and Worminions in our basement

There are Wormins and Worminions in our basement! They're procreating very quickly! We have barricaded it, but we're scared, I'm scared! Please defeat those monsters!

Address: Bamburgh 12

Recommended Level: 3

Recommended Party Members: 3

Rewards: 50 Zuz and Free drinks.

-Tavern

"The message seems really personal, but the quest owner is the tavern? That makes no sense at all." I said

"In some cases, when an adventurer dies during an individual quest, the quest will turn into a public problem, which means the tavern will take over and increase the rewards."

Apart from that, the quest seemed really clear, and the reward was great, free drinks and 50 Zuz, which is the currency used on earth.

"The recommended level is three and the number of party members should be three too. I'm alone and I'm level one!" I said worryingly.

"Hmpfh…" She muttered.

"What do you mean you are alone?! We're going together!" She said somewhat frustrated, as if I ignored her.

"I'm level seven, so together we can take this quest on with just the two of us. Now, let's go to Bjorn and accept the quest."

From what I've learned, Bjorn seemed to be the tavern keeper. He was a big muscular guy wearing cooking attire. It looked quite funny, if I do say so myself.

"So, coming here to accept this quest?" Bjorn asked in quite a deep voice.

"Yeah, it'll be us two." She said.

"May I have your name then?" Bjorn asked while looking at me.

"Noff, my name is Noff."

"Alright, Ivette and Noff, I'll take note of it."

This situation was quite convenient, as I didn't have to ask for her name anymore. Bjorn added marks to the quest paper which indicated we accepted it, and so Ivette and I left the tavern together.

"Bamburgh is a very small village, it's not far away from here, but it's quite difficult to reach due to the small pathways we must go through." Ivette said in an exciting way. It seemed like she was really looking forward to doing this quest together.

"Do you know how to get there then?"

"Not entirely from the top of my head, but I have a map which encompasses the surroundings within a five km circle from this tavern. Only a few villages exist within this range: Bamburgh, Westwend and Tregaron."

Must be convenient, living so close to a tavern where adventurers gather up, I thought.

"Well then! Let's get going!" Ivette said.