Yumi groaned in pain as she moved her body up off her bed. She had not long changed and had sat down momentarily to put her shoes on. But as she began to rise her entire body ached, the downside to getting old was everything would ache now and then, and she would make a noise, a groan as she stood. She affectionately called it an old woman sound. Yumi gritted her teeth as she planted her hands on her knees to help her stand. The old woman stood at her full height keeping her back straight and shoulders levelled. She let her arms fall to her sides before she left her bedroom, making her way out of the room she was staying in. The inn she was staying at was a simple inn that tended not to ask questions about its guests which she liked. She hated accommodation that was always asking questions. She just wanted them not to annoy her.

Yumi gritted her teeth as she walked down the stairs and made her way to the dark quest board. She had done six quests since she had gotten to oak and earned one hundred and fifty thousand jewels. While it would be enough for her to live off for the next few months she still needed to earn more money. The old woman sighed in mild annoyance as she began to survey the board looking for the perfect quest to take. Her eyes travelled to the D rank's, she was thinking of doing a relatively easy quest especially since her back was hurting a little and she did not want to over do it.

"Dusk?" The cry of her familiar temporarily drew the old woman's attention. She turned as Venom floated down the stairs towards her. The mini grim reaper-like creature stopped in order to reside on her right shoulder, her right shoulder appeared to be Venom's preferred place to rest. Yumi turned back to the board, while bringing up her left hand to pat the top of Venom's skull-like mask. She used her right arm to retrieve a quest from the board.

Yumi let her gaze fall on the quest and begin to read the details. it seemed Dr. Stephan Mabuz was hiring mages once again. She had already performed two quests for the odd Doctor, both to test out four different hexes he had created. One had accidentally increased her own physical strength when it had been meant to sap the target of their strength. She wasn't going to complain about that.

The old woman rolled the quest up and slid it into the right sleeve of her kimono, before folding her arms together, her hands sliding into her sleeves. Yumi then turned and started walking away from the board making her way towards the entrance of the Inn. She ignored the odd looks she received from it's occupants, it was not often they saw an old woman is a place of ill reputation let alone such an odd creature that followed her.

WC: 515 / 1000

The old woman made her way out of her travelling to the woods. The quest stated the doctor was after a unique kind of mushroom that grew in the woods surrounding oak. The mushroom is tall and skinny, completely grey except for the glowing green dots on it, though the quest did say some mushrooms looked similar so the mage would have to be careful when picking as they would be poisonous. The old woman tsked in mild annoyance as she wandered through the streets her familiar following after her. The creature tended to follow the old woman everywhere she went not that she cared, she would never admit it out loud but it was nice to have company.

The old woman approached the woods having long since left oak town and began her journey deep into the shadows. She placed her hands behind her back as she followed the road making her way deep into the woods to where the mushrooms were located. The quest had stated they would be in the deepest and most moist part of the woods. The old woman released an annoyed sigh, why had she taken this request? It was a lowly errand that any simpleton could have done. Oh how the mighty had fallen, she was nothing more than a common servant.

The old woman removed herself from her thoughts as she arrived. All around her were hundreds of different mushrooms of various colours and sizes. Yumi's sharp gaze fell upon the forest floor as she began searching for the matching mushroom. She could see skinny, short and grey with blue spots and even red mushrooms that were tall but thick. She continued searching for the mushrooms, crouching low to the forest floor to find them. Her familiar was zooming about doing the same, lending a hand for the quest and so the free loading beast should.

Yumi released an annoyed sigh as she finally found one of the mushrooms she needed. She grabbed it by the base and pulled out of the ground relatively ease, releasing she did not have a basket with her. The old woman tsked before looking around and grabbing a few nearby vines and leaves and started making her own from what the forest provided. Once her makeshift basket was done she started to search for more mushrooms depositing them into the basket as she did. By the time she had gathered up close to two dozen her familiar had flown on back dropping a dozen into the basket.

The quest did not say how many mushrooms were needed, but surely three dozen would be enough. The old woman then stood up and started heading back into town, first pulling a number of leaves into the basket to hide the mushrooms. These particular ones were illegal to sell so she needed to be discreet. The old woman walked back into oak heading to the doctors workshop. She would force the door open and approach him at the counter not saying a word, even though he seemed to recognise her. She placed the makeshift basket on the counter and pulled up a few of the leaves to reveal the product earning a smile from the doctor who handed her the jewels as promised in the quest. The old woman pocketed the money and left.

{EXIT}

WC: 556

TWC; 1071 / 1000

Familiar Present