By the time Shelby returned to the Inn, the crowd of villagers had dispersed and gone back to their lives. Thimble was still loitering in the seating area of the plaza, and Nisa was sitting with him. Shelby hung back for a second. Seeing Nisa with her target- er, new friend had reminded her of the achievement she had won for advancing the town. She whispered to AIDAN and Tara, "What does it mean that I get extra 'reputation' with Nisa?"

  "She's a named NPC, she probably has some story you can unlock. I think all the named ones have at least some unique quests," Tara said, "I became friendly with some of the human priests in my area because I kept accidentally doing their hidden quests to slay undead."

  "Hidden quests?" Shelby asked.

  "You know... like the Dynamic Quests. If someone says, 'I sure could go for some sushi right now' and you bring them sushi, that will complete a hidden quest."

  "Oh! I thought it was just the quest master who does that kind of stuff."

  "Who is the quest master?" Tara asked.

  "He's the one that taught me about Dynamic Quests!"

  "Oh, okay, well every NPC like that has things they want or storylines to discover," Tara said offhandedly.

  "That is correct. I think it is probable that Nisa's quests are somehow tied to the region since she was specifically mentioned in your title's effect," AIDAN added.

  "So I should make friends with her too," Shelby said with a nod.

  "You should go finish the tutorial level so we can get you out of the game," Tara corrected.

  "I need Thimble's help. Maybe if I become friends with Nisa then she'll tell Thimble to come with me!"

  Tara sighed, "it does look like they're getting along better than you did with Mr. Grumpy Mouse."

  Shelby agreed, Nisa was smiling sympathetically at Thimble as he talked to her. He was talking to her, not the other way around! Shelby could have been a dentist with how many teeth she had to pull to get him to talk.

  "That's not fair!" Shelby said out loud.

  "What is not fair?" AIDAN asked.

  "Why is he talking to Nisa? I was so friendly!"

  "Maybe it's like a cat," Tara said vaguely.

  "Tara, what does that mean?" Shelby said with exasperation. Tara was horrible at analogies.

  "A cat! A cat! You know. They only talk- uh, come to people who don't want them to."

  "Ah, so Nisa is cornered right now. Is that what you're saying?"

  "I'm saying maybe she tried waiting for him to come to her," Tara said.

  "That's actually really smart. I'll make friends with Nisa, and Thimble will get so jealous that he'll demand to come with me so that we can bond!" Shelby bounced in place.

  "Yeah. Sure. Let's try that. What could possibly go wrong?" Shelby could almost hear Tara rolling her eyes.

  Shelby walked up to Thimble and Nisa, and Thimble immediately stopped talking and started glaring. Shelby tore her eyes away from the small mouse with great effort and smiled at Nisa. Nisa looked entertained by whatever she was witnessing, "Hello Caramel."

  "Hello Nisa, I come bearing gifts!"

  Shelby popped a half dozen small containers into her hand that were filled with tiny, bright orange fruits. She had gotten four from Ginger and found two more herself. She placed them on the bench between Nisa and herself. Coda wandered closer to the group, sniffing at the boxes with interest. Nisa opened one container and smiled, "Spirit Kumquats! That will put some color in my meals. Thanks so much. How did you know I needed these?"

  "You told me, remember? You said you would have given me fruit if you had it."

  "So I did... Have you ever had a spirit kumquat? They're strange. They taste like tart oranges but they feel like you're eating a giant jelly bean," Nisa said as she ate one out of the open container.

  "I... didn't even think to try them," Shelby admitted.

  Thimble stirred uncomfortably across the table from them, clearly wishing Shelby would leave. Shelby smiled at him and asked, "would you like to try one, Thimble?"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  She held out one of the kumquats to him, and she could see it was faintly translucent in the morning light. He snatched it out of her hand. Shelby quickly fed one to Coda too, who smacked on it with an open mouth. Nisa looked bemused at the hostile interaction between Shelby and Thimble, but graciously intervened, "I hope nothing serious happened with the farming village up north. I haven't gotten my usual delivery of grains and vegetables."

  Thank you, Nisa! Shelby nodded gravely, "I really need to go investigate, but... I'm a little nervous to go on my own."

  Thimble chewed furiously for a few seconds so that he could bark out a protest, "I already told you that I'm not interested!"

  Nisa leaned forward on one elbow, "I didn't know you were thinking about helping me and Pico out, Thimble. That would be so nice of you."

  "I'm... I wasn't," he paled at Nisa's attention and broke off eye contact with her to stare at his feet. Oh, is this a crush situation? Shelby wondered.

  "You weren't? But didn't you just tell me you were looking for an 'adventure'?" Nisa asked innocently.

  "How is checking on a farm an adventure?" he asked mirthlessly.

  "Adventures aren't going to come find you. You need to go out and find them yourself. Did you know there are dragons to the north? Maybe that's why there hasn't been any word," Nisa mused.

  Shelby and Thimble both went wide-eyed and asked, "There are dragons?"

  "I could tell you, or you could go see for yourselves," the inn mouse laughed.

  Thimble crossed his arms and flopped back against his seat. Nisa gave him one last push, "I won't be able to cook any desserts until I get my next delivery of flour from up north, anyways."

  "No dessert?" Shelby cried.

  "Enough! Fine! I will go!" Thimble forced out through a scowl.

  "My heroes!" Nisa said with a sly smile, "I suppose you'll need an Obligation too, huh? That's a must for adventurers like you two. Here, Caramel, have one of mine. It's not worth much, but I know a certain mercenary mouse who would love to have my culinary insights on demand."

  Shelby froze up, whispering to AIDAN, "Wait, how do I bond with Thimble using Nisa's Obligation?"

  "By presenting the Obligation to Mr. Thimble and then swearing a mutual Confidant bond over it. He will receive the Obligation after the partnership has ended. Presumably he will then return it to Ms. Nisa to obtain her bond."

  "I want Nisa's bond too," Shelby pouted.

  Tara huffed, "Fo-cussss!"

  Shelby placed the Obligation star into her palm. It was light red and the stars in the capsule were sharp and six pronged. Thimble hesitantly placed his hand on top of it, "I swear a bond in exchange for this Obligation."

  Shelby repeated what he had said, and the Obligation disappeared.

  The little mouse dropped his hand and looked at Shelby skeptically, "Just for this one trip."

  Shelby nodded to him, "Okay. We'll go find that dragon."

  Nisa coughed, "'Check on the village.'"

  "Yes, the village," Shelby agreed.

  Shelby focused on inviting Thimble to a party, and after one more withering look, his portrait appeared next to hers with a small health bar.

  Shelby wondered, is there a way to see more about him?

  Tara spoke over a bunch of rapid clicking, "Can't you just use your observation skill?"

  "What's that?" Shelby asked.

  "Your book skill, from the codex."

  "I believe she means the skill called [Shadow]. This is a skill you may purchase from the Codex menu that allows you to gain information about foes or allies."

  "Ohhh, Shadow. Of course. And, where do I see that?" Shelby asked.

  "Shelby..." Tara sighed, "you really need to check your menus."

  "AIDAN takes care of all that for me," Shelby said.

  "AIDAN, I command you to make Shelby learn how to play the game."

  "Understood, adjusting personality from 'accommodating' to 'commandeering''" AIDAN said.

  "AIDAN, no! I need your help," Shelby cried.

  "I apologize. That was an attempt at humor," AIDAN said, sounding a little sad, "I will of course continue to assist you."

  "Oh my god, Shelby please unlock your codex skill before this mouse thinks you're memorizing his face," Tara said.

  Thimble was, in fact, looking uncomfortable as Shelby stared at him. She winced, "Sorry, just confirming where we're going."

  He slowly nodded, "Take your time, I suppose?"

  She opened her Codex and noticed a tab called "Milestone Exchange" and selected it. A tree appeared on a stylized page with an indication that she had four milestones to spend. The... rats, tree slimes, and earth spirits... what is the fourth one from?

  "That is a reward for exploring 25% of the Copperglade region," AIDAN explained.

  Shelby looked down the tree. There were a bunch of circular icons running down the tree's branches and trunk, and at the center, where the tree sprouted from the earth, was an icon that looked like an eye. Shelby focused on it.

  Yes.

  The icon glowed a deep purple and two lines extended off of it and ended at an icon of a dagger and another in a second eye icon.

  If Shelby understood that correctly, then Shadow would always show the health of enemies she was fighting. That would be nice. Yes.

  That node was the end of its series, but still lit up in purple. Shelby would need three more Milestones before she could get anything else. She closed the menu and used Shadow on Thimble, who had gone back to quietly talking with Nisa.

  She focused on his skills but nothing happened. Huh. I thought Shadow would show everything for an ally. Maybe Thimble's attitude is holding it back? She shook her head, then closed the readout and stood up, "Okay, it's all settled. Let's go check it out!"

  Thimble hopped out of his chair and gathered his things, nodding to Nisa. Shelby waved goodbye and Nisa returned the gesture, saying, "Be safe out there, bring me back flour too."

  Shelby adjusted her mini-map. The objective was so far away that it wasn't being shown, and instead a blue arrow marked the edge of the map to indicate the direction to where the town was. She started walking towards the main road and Thimble hurried after her. She smiled at him, "So... know any fun road trip games?"