Hello guys and girls, my name is Vardan, and this is my first fic ever. I have started this account a few months ago, but i haven't been inspired to write some stories until recently, lets see how this goes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Etrian Odyssey nor any related titles.

It was about 11 PM in the relatively isolated but well known town of Etria, at a pub widely known to the locals by the name of The Golden Deer, when a silver haired Troubadour was just finishing his last song for the night as some of the bars patrons applauded at him.

"Thank you, Thank You, I'll be back tomorrow!" The Troubadour answered as he got down from his chair and went to pick up a nearby hat he put down on the floor before he started his two hour entertainment show, the hat contained a decent sum of Ental for a show like the one he just delivered.

"Not bad, Not bad at all… but I could've made a bit more." The Troubadour thought to himself has he pocketed the Ental, picked up his lyre, and walked over to the bar.

Behind said bar was the owner, publican, and bartender of the pub, a middle aged, brown-eyed brunette that went by the name of Valerie, who immediately took notice of the troubadour as he walked towards the bar with a slightly downcast face.

"Looks like someone is a bit down today." She said as the Troubadour took a seat on one of the stools surrounding the bar. "Need a little something to cheer you up? Ale? Sap Wine? Anything at all?"

"No thanks, I'm good" The Troubadour said in response, if he had to be even more sincere, he would respond that he was bored due to the lack of exploration ever since his group entered the flesh walled hell that was known as the Claret Hollows. Sure the discovery of new creatures and objects was exiting, but the place was a literal horror in general, especially for the Medic, who was pushed to her limit both physically and mentally. He then remembered having to play various songs and encouragement tunes just to calm her down, he even recalled having to play a lullaby just to put her to sleep. "It's nothing that bad, I'm just disappointed at my earnings for the night…" he continued as he removed the plant stalk he had between his mouth and started twirling it around his fingers.

"Hey, it's not like it was the least amount of money you made in your life kiddo." Valerie answered as she grabbed a mug and started filling it with some Ale and passing it over to another man sitting at the edge of the bar.

The Troubadour sighed, "I guess you're right, after all, you did post that job on the board and we accepted it regardless of the pay, seems like my guild has a pretty strong sense of compassion."

He recalled the events of said request, the young man that worked as the clerk at the Rooster Inn had lost his pet Tree Rat during a walk through the labyrinth, and even though they eventually found him, the search for said pet was long and tiring, the fact that they only received a five Ental reward only added more insult to injury, he recalled that their Medic and Ronin had emerged from the ordeal with some pretty bad wounds.

"You make that sound like a bad thing." She answered at the Troubadour "Speaking about requests, I think I might have one that may interest you." She said as she produced a slip of paper from one of her pockets.

The Troubadour reached out and grabbed the slip from her hand, he then proceeded to look at the details of the request: "I lost my arm to a blizzard-breathed dragon, but I'm the only one who's seen it. Prove it exists for me." Reward: 25,000 Ental.

"A blizzard-breathed dragon? Sure, I've seen a wyvern in the Labyrinth, but an actual dragon? Impossible, the Radha Hall would have issued a warning!" The Troubadour thought to himself.

He was about to return the slip, until he set his eyes upon the reward once more, and then shifted his sight to the vague, but still important, details of the request. "Wait a moment, the request says that he only wants proof of the dragon's existence, not that he wants it dead. Maybe this little request may be worth my time, and if I do find proof, I walk away with 25,000 Ental."

"I'm interested" the Troubadour answered after a moment of silence, his downcast expression now replaced with a visible grin which Valerie took notice of.

"Ha-ha, look who's smiling over here" Valerie Said in return "The client usually visits the bar around midday, so why don't you come back tomorrow and ask him more about this dragon of his?"

"Sure, thanks for the tip" he answered in return as he stood up, picked up his lyre, placed the plant stalk back in his mouth, and walked out of the pub.

"See ya tomorrow kiddo!" he heard Valerie shout at him as he left the Golden Deer Pub, the "kiddo" comment was partially inaccurate, sure he was younger than her both in appearance and in age, but he was still 22 years old, no matter what anybody said about that.

He took a walk through the town square and through the streets until he arrived at a medium sized building in a quiet, but not so isolated, part of Etria. He was thankful that the guild somehow managed to move out of the inn and manage to establish themselves in there. "I swear, the room price for a night's stay got progressively higher every day that went by, I guess that boy was trying to make some extra money or something... nah, he was probably scamming us and yanking our money away right under our noses." He thought to himself as he knocked on the door.

He was then immediately greeted by a voice from the other side of the door. "Who is it?" Said the owner of the voice, in a really drowsy manner.

"Open up Vincent, it me, Micah" Answered the Troubadour as the man identified as Vincent proceeded to open the door.

And there you have it, the first chapter in my first fic ever, be sure to review and give me some advice and point out errors if necessary.

This is Vardan, signing out!