Melly stood over the fallen swindler with a foot on his neck, staring deeply into his mischievous eyes. Her thoughts drifted from the mayor, towards the fate of her village and the destruction of her house. The strange object had been the reason why they had been lured here in the first place and by the use of simple arithmetic, meant that this scheming bureaucrat was the potential orchestrator of the entire devious plot.

　　"Please!" Fredreek squealed. "Don`t kill me."

　　"Then talk," Melly said through gritted teeth. "Why did you attack our town?"

　　"What? Attack?" Fredreek groaned under her heel. "I sold the gas bomb years ago. I sold many like it. I don`t know about any town."

　　"Bull crap!" countered Derrick. "Those zealots were sent by you, weren`t they?"

　　"Wait, zealots?" he coughed. "Wearing robes of brown, sometimes black. Have smelly totems and strange staffs?"

　　"Like this?" Clemiticus asked, plunging his hand into his pocket and pulling out a staff of subjugation.

　　Fredreek nodded furiously. "Ah! Now I know who attacked you," he quickly spoke, "it was she."

　　"She?" Melly roared, "stop stuttering. Talk!"

　　Fredreek whimpered but continued, "I`ve never met her in person. I`ve only heard her voice. The zealot mages came into town years ago and threw a party. They offered me some treasure for a powerful magical object."

　　"Treasure?" Clemiticuses` ears perked up.

　　"Shush," Melly snapped.

　　"AH, Yes. I said I had a rare magical bomb that would cause death in the most horrific way and they threw treasure my way. During the party, the zealots produced a strange square mirror. They cast magic on it, and it changed. Inside was a picture of an enormous castle made of dark grey stone."

　　"Greystone you say?" Nuecus asked. His face was pensive. "Like Ashenstone?"

　　"Yes, grey stone. Like the kingdom across the sea to the south-east. From within came a woman`s voice," Fredreek explained. "Such a beautiful yet terrifying voice."

　　"And the woman said?" Melly pushed.

　　"Nothing much. Just about a war. She needed powerful artifacts to destroy her foe. The more interesting and obscure, the better," he answered, snivelling.

　　Melly harrumphed then said, "so, it`s her fault our village burned down?"

　　"Yes!" Fredreek screamed, clutching at Melly`s legs. "She commands the Zealots. I only sold that one bloody thing to the woman."

　　"Get off me!" Melly said, flicking the man off her leg with a kick.

　　Clemiticus moved beside Melly and pulled the man back. For the briefest of moments, she was surprised to see that Clemiticus was finally doing something helpful, until she realised that he pushed the pathetic bald man over and tore off one of his shoes to reveal a bright white silk sock.

　　"Finally! Boots!" Clemiticus shouted gleefully. "Look how flashy they are."

　　"Um, Clem. I don`t think this is the time to do that." Derrick said, noticing the bloodthirsty scowl that had now taken up residence across Melly`s face.

　　"Pfft, nonsense! I`ve been after a pair ever since my wolfy boots fell apart," Clemiticus replied. "Great stats. Increased crafty shiftiness."

　　"Clemiticus focus!" Melly called out, but the excited adventurer was far too preoccupied.

　　A frustrated Melly promptly stormed over to the looter and slapped him across in the face. Or at least she meant too. Just at that moment, the final boot came loose from the mayor`s foot, and Clemiticus fell away from the mighty blow. Fredreek`s weight twisted around just in time for a red-faced Melly to send her palm directly towards his face.

　　"Clemiticus has stolen the item, Fine Leather boots!" Fairy cheered.

　　"Ah!" Fredreek screamed.

　　"Now, why did you do that?" Clemiticus asked. "He was helpless on the floor."

　　"Ugh!" Melly seethed.

　　"Calm down, everyone!" Derrick shouted.

　　"But Dad?" Melly replied.

　　"Dad?" Fredreek muttered between sobs. A fresh line of blood now flowed down his chin.

　　"Nice hit crazy girl," said Nuecus.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

　　"We need to have a plan for what to do next," Derrick added.

　　"This travesty is very enjoyable to watch," Nuecus said, sitting down on the remains of the bed. "You absurd adventurers are thoroughly entertaining."

　　"Not helping Nuecus." Derrick chastised.

　　"I don`t care," Clemiticus said. "I`ve got my loot, so I think it`s time we leave!"

　　"My beautiful fortune!" Fredreek said, squealing. Before anyone could react, the bleeding mayor ran towards the sack of treasure in his silk socks and, in one second, had it slung over his shoulder. The bickering party members barely had time to move before the bald man had made it halfway towards the stairs.

　　Then something surprising happened. The shoeless old trickster ran directly through the puddle of the green giant`s potion he had previously spilled. Now, if he had his trusty boots on, he would`ve run right through it with no problems. However, having only extravagant silky socks on he had regrettably entered the dangerous territory where accidents were bound to happen. Adding the extra weight of the loot sack and his velocity, things weren`t looking great for the corrupt mayor.

　　Unfortunately for Fredreek, that side of the room also had a carriage sized hole in it. Melly, Clemiticus, Derrick and Nuecus all watched in shock as the crazy old mayor of Bluehill Town soared through the room and right out of the hole. There he was met with the loving embrace of gravity.

　　"My Loot!" Clemiticus bellowed as the bald man and his sack of goodies fell out of sight.

　　BING!

　　"Clemiticuses party has completed the optional quest: Donate the stolen treasure to charity. Clemiticus and his party have received an exalted status and reputation with the people of Bluehill Town," the fairy sang.

　　"Noooooo!" Clemiticus roared. "My Looooooot!"

　　Melly sighed. How would they all get their compensation now?

　　Bing!

　　A red light flashed.

　　"A Chain quest has been activated. After the defeat of the evil Mayor, Clemiticus and his party members have stumbled upon the secret of the evil Queen! The rewards of this quest are rated as ascended Legendary. You will receive the sum of one million gold each on completion."

　　"Loot?" Clemiticus changed tack instantly. "WE NOBLE HEROES ACCEPT!"

　　"Noble?" Melly said incredulously.

　　Bing!

　　"Clemiticuses party has completed the retribution quest of Fredreek Von Lousy! All party members have been rewarded with a personal random reward!" Fairy`s voice resounded.

　　"Sweet!" Clemiticus cheered.

　　A yellow reward light flashed above Melly. She sighed and slapped the square box that appeared. A picture of a full leather suit flashed into existence.

　　"Ranger`s medium armour. Black." she read aloud. "Rarity, rare."

　　On the right-hand corner, down the bottom of the floating yellow box, had the words `click here to equip`. So, she resigned herself and clicked it. Instantly, her tarnished travelling clothes disappeared. In their place was a thin layer of well-tanned black leather covering every part of her body except for head.

　　"W, what.?" Melly stammered while examining her recently buffed garments. "Seriously, why is this so tight?"

　　Nuecus whistled in appreciation.

　　"Shut it, you pervy old man," Melly said. A small square to her side flashed. It read `change to village clothes set`. Her hand instantly darted towards the writing and pressed down. The skin-tight leather armour faded back into obscurity and her regular comfortable clothes once again covered her limbs.

　　"Awww?" Nuecus responded.

　　She gave him a withering glance then noticed Nuecus` expression of disappointment was mirrored over Clemiticus.

　　Could this quest have any moments where she was not embarrassed or pissed off for at least one second? She thought bitterly.

　　"Oh, well." Clemiticus mumbled as he looked over his own personal loot.

　　Nuecus received a large staff of Thaumaturgy and Derrick was given a run-of-the-mill blacksmith hammer. These, however, were nothing compared to the prize Clemiticus was lucky enough to claim.

　　A white light flashed from within the ruined bedroom and Fairy announced triumphantly that his master had obtained something wonderful.

　　"Clemiticus has received the item, Fates calling charm, of vocational destiny!" Fairy announced.

　　"Ooooohhhh..." Clemiticus oohed.

　　Melly shrugged her shoulders.

　　Fairy continued, "Clemiticus has the exclusive ability to evolve his class and obtain one of the unique hero classes."

　　Hell yeah!" Clemiticus cheered.

　　"Well done, son!" Nuecus complimented. "Whatever that means."

　　"Congrats," Derrick added. "I think."

　　"Hurry up," drawled Melly.

　　"You`ll get three choices of Heroic class," instructed Fairy.

　　"Number one. The Death Knight. An unmatched warrior who commands the dead. Wears heavy armour and uses dark magic to subjugate his foes. A Dark knight`s supremacy can rival some of the mightiest demons in the land."

　　"Sounds good," Clemiticus commented. "Sounds overpowered."

　　Nuecus nodded pensively, but Derrick shook his head disapprovingly.

　　"Sounds formidable but way too evil," said Derrick.

　　"Number two, the Holy champion of the light. A powerful paladin with the almighty power to reduce your enemies to powder. They use heavy armour, two handed weapons and light magic. Their strength can even match that of the lower Gods."

　　"Holy cow," Clemiticus said, gasping.

　　"Solid choice." Derrick nodded.

　　"And the last. The Swashbuckling Pirate," explained Fairy. "Enjoys sailing and booty hunting."

　　"SOLD!" Clemiticus yelled. "I choose the Pirate!"

　　"WHAT?!" The other three shouted in unison.

　　"Are you insane?" Melly yelled.

　　In an instant, Clemiticus glowed. His clothes dissolved until he was only in his underpants.

　　"My boots!" Clemiticus cried.

　　A strange melody echoed within the ruined bedroom followed by a chorus of sea shanties. They all turned as a random red light glowed from outside, announcing the arrival of a feathered newcomer. A red Macaw soared through the giant hole in the wall and landed on Clemiticus` shoulder.

　　Where the hell did that thing come from? Wondered Melly.

　　As soon as the parrot connected with him an explosion of clothes surged over Clemiticus.

　　A bright white thrill shirt washed over his chest and was immediately surrounded by a long black coat with round golden buttons. Dark black pants rushed up his legs from the ground and fastened itself to his waist with a thick red sash. Gigantic pirate boots flooded around his shins like a leather ocean current.

　　A long scimitar appeared on his hip complete with a golden sheath. A blunderbuss materialised and spun into his black coat, settling securely in a leather holster. Just as Melly thought the tide of clothing couldn`t get any more extravagant, a gigantic wide-brimmed black hat complete with an absurdly long white feather, fell from the roof and landed atop his head.

　　Clemiticus basked in the glory of his new outfit and said the only word that fit. "ARRRGHGHHH!!!"

　　Bing!

　　The white light vanished, and the blue light returned.

　　"Yaaay!" Fairy cheered. "You have begun the quest chain: Confront the evil Queen. To do this, you must travel north and make peace with the Ocean Lord, secure a boat and sail over the great ocean!"