The quest giver finally spoke, voice shaky. "Who… sniff… are… you…?"
Rion gave a friendly smile. "My name's Rion. I saw your request, so I—"
Immediately, more tears welled in the quest giver's eyes. He lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Rion's waist."Thank… sob… thank you! sob I—I— WAAAHHH!"
Rion's smile faltered. He could feel his shirt getting wet. People were starting to stare."Haha, heyyy, buddy… let's sit down, okay?"
The quest giver slowly lifted his head and gave a brief nod.
"So, what's your name?" Rion asked. He almost felt like he was the one who had posted the quest, as the guy across from him wiped his tears.
"My name's Ezra. Ezra Rain."
Rion nodded. "Nice to meet you, Ezra. Now, before you start crying again can you tell me what this quest is even about?"
"I… yeah. Sorry about all that," Ezra said, rubbing his eyes. "I've just been waiting for days and was starting to lose hope, so…"
"I see," Rion muttered.
As he looked Ezra up and down, Rion noted how perfectly he matched the little drawing on the quest paper. The only odd detail was a small hammer hanging from his hip, and the fact that he was covered in scars, many of them fresh. Maybe a blacksmith? The scars could be from mistakes.
Ezra cleared his throat. "Anyway, to make things short my village is in big trouble."
"The whole village? That's quite a feat," Rion said.
Ezra nodded. "Yeah. My village, Hearan, lies in the center of a place called Mantra Valley northeast from here. We're a village of miners—that's where all our profits come from. You could say the mines are the heart of Hearan."
Rion nodded along, following his explanation.
"A little over two weeks ago," Ezra went on, "imagine our shock when a massive magma wyvern came barreling down the mountain straight toward our village. Sure, we'd heard of magma flowing through those mountains, but we never thought it was enough to incubate that!"
Ezra's fists tightened at his outburst. "Sorry."
Rion shook his head. "Go on."
Ezra nodded before continuing... "It came down and burned right through our walls. Caused chaos, destroyed homes… and when it was done, it escaped into the mines. The miners down there had no warning. So who knows how many…" Ezra trailed off, swallowing back more sobs. "We sent for the Guild, asking for help, but between our village being somewhat of a hassle to reach, the low pay, and the high threat level… well, I'm sure you can see the issue."
Rion nodded. There wasn't much to say besides "Wow, that sucks" didn't seem like the right response here, so he kept his mouth shut.
Ezra sighed. "In the end, I went against my mother's wishes and came here as a last resort. I can't afford to wait any longer. There are safety chambers in the mines stocked with food and water—there's a chance some miners are still alive, but they won't last forever. And even if no one's left… we have no idea how long that wyrm will stay down there or if it'll come back once it leaves. If we can't get back into the mines soon, our village is finished…"
He let out a deep breath. "Sorry, I said I'd make this short. Anyway, that's why I need help. The quest is to kill a magma wyrm."
Rion nodded one last time.
"If you want to turn away now, I'll understand, so—"
"I accept!"
Ezra blinked. "Huh?"
"I accept!" Rion said, grinning wide.
(And thus, Rion's adventure continues…)