“Good, there’s still time.” The frantic woman stumbled toward the library entrance. The imposing stone building looked older than time to Bobby. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the woman dropped something. He looked down and found a sheet of parchment with glowing letters on the floor. He reached for it, but his mentor grabbed his wrist.
“Remember where you are,” the lean, older man said.
“Uh,..,” Bobby glanced at the ancient building. “…Sharp Library?” he asked as he pulled his hand back from the magical scrap.
“Yes,” Brady nodded. “but no,” he shook his head. “Come, let’s sit there in the shade.” He gestured at a stone picnic table that sat under a tall, thick red tree. Brady led the 12-year-old boy to the table. As they arrived the tall man encouraged Bobby to sit on the far side of the table; facing the way they came. Then, he sat next to him.
“Hey, where’d it go?” Bobby asked. He looked at the ground, then left and right. There was no breeze blowing, and there were only a handful of people around.
“Maybe she came back for it?” Brady offered, but Bobby shook his head.
“She looked like she was in a big hurry, I don’t think she even realized she dropped it.” As he finished his reasoning, Bobby was surprised. The same panicked woman walked past them with a long gait. The woman approached a tall, portly man in chainmail armor. After a brief exchange, she ran away from him; Bobby caught sight of a glow falling to the ground. “Hey she dropped it again,” he said with interest.
“Uhuh,” Brady replied. The chain-suited man glanced around then knelt to pick up the sheet. A loud, short fanfare played and sparkles erupted all around the man; he hung his head and sighed. Text appeared above his head.
[Quest Accepted!]“It’s a quest!?” Bobby laughed. “He doesn’t have to accept it though, right?” Brady shook his head.
“I’m afraid so. That quest is called, “Librarian’s Helper”. If you pick up the first item you volunteer to follow her around all day helping her organize the shelves. It’s a newbie quest that rewards an abundance of exp. I think it’s supposed to make up for hijacking your day,” Brady shrugged.
“But, since levels don’t matter anymore it’s just a time sink.”