"Hoy, wake up. It's morning." Walter said to Flynn and Issachar.

As the two prentices from Kiccigiorgi awoke, Walter noticed an odd look on Flynn's face and said, "Hm? What is it? You're giving me the strangest look. . ."

"Good morning. We have a message from the Commander." Jonathan said as he came in before continuing, "He's asked for all prentices to report to K's tavern in Aquila Plaza. Walter and I shall meet you two there."

Walter and Jonathan left as suddenly as they came. Once inside K's tavern Walter said, "A tavern for Samurai, hm?"

"It's a sign that we're fully fledged Samurai now." Jonathan said.

"Ah, fresh faces. Are you this year's prentices?" a man with an eye-patch said.

"It's rather off-putting to have you treat me the same as these Casualries chosen so capriciously, Mr. K." Navarre said.

"If you keep up that petty sniping, I'll rip the hair from your pate, do you hear me?" Walter remarked at Navarre.

"That's enough, both of you. Honestly, some men never grow up." Isabeau said.

"By the by, where is the Commander?" Jonathan asked.

"I suspect that Mr. K is going to explain how the tavern works." Issachar said.

"You got that right, Issachar. Anyway, have a look at the blackboard inside." K said as he pointed at a blackboard that was inside the tavern.

Looking at the blackboard, Flynn and the others noticed a lot of requests on it. "Yes, that's the blackboard I wanted you to see." K said before continuing, "There are quests besides your official missions that get jotted down here. You can try your hand at these quests on your own time whenever you want. . . Everyone calls them Challenge Quests. Naturally, when you complete one, you'll get a reward from whoever posted it. Life gets dull quickly if all you do each day is head into Naraku and fight demons. That's why the masters have set up some fun for themselves. The rewards are nice, but your real prize is the praise and respect you earn from the other Samurai. So the masters have decided to let you prentices join in the Samurai fun as well. Try raising your Gauntlets to the blackboard."

Flynn and the other prentices raised their Gauntlets to the blackboard. Burroughs registered the quests on the board for each of them. Navarre then proposed that him, Walter, Issachar and Flynn try to complete the quests in the fastest amount of time. Walter took up the challenge eagerly and then Navarre and Walter both left the tavern. Flynn had discreetly picked up three Deep Green Mosses when inside Naraku during the training and delivered them before going inside to the Floor of Fame and shooting a Gryphon, killing it and allowing him to collect one of its talons. Once inside the First Stratum he killed another Gryphon and collected a talon before going down into the Second Stratum and killing the Orthrus instantly with a single Bufudyne. He then returned to the First Stratum and killed a third Gryphon with his Peacemaker and left for K's Tavern. Issachar was already there and he said, "Well, it seems that we all completed the quests, but where's Navarre?"

Kelsey, who had remained inside the tavern when Jonathan and Isabeau left to complete the quests, said, "I can only assume that he's gotten himself into something serious."

"Pardon you, the prentice. . ." a Samurai said to Flynn as he came in.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I saw your outstanding performance in those Challenge Quests. And I have a favor to ask of a Samurai of your skill, Flynn. You see, Navarre has actually gone missing in Naraku. . . Would you please go find him? There is a catch, alas. You must do this as quietly as possible. Navarre is very proud of himself. Even should you rescue him safely, if such a stain on his reputation becomes public knowledge, he may go so far as to choose death over the humiliation it would bring. I must ask that you begin searching for Navarre at once in Naraku." he said.

"There is shady business going on inside Naraku as of late, so maybe we should accompany each other. You know, to find safety in numbers?" Issachar said.

"You're right, Issachar. And besides, Navarre can be such a headache whenever things go badly for him." Kelsey said.