On day 8, when the Wind Elemental appears, I visited Keapon Laffin who said that the Dervish has a "Beast problem" The Dervish told me of a caged beast, and where to find it. I went to that spot and nothing was there, I even checked an online map to make sure I was in the right spot. I was.

THEN I checked the Wiki which says that the beast, nor The Dervish's request isn't supposed to happen until day 12.

Glitch??

My understanding is that certain quests like the Caged Beast don't necessarily become available when folks like Keapon mention them. Just think of it as a teaser for something that'll be important later. After all, from a technical standpoint, the Caged Beast quest can't be completed until after the Air Elemental is dealt with. I don't know offhand if you've played through the game(s) before, so that's all I'm going to say about it for now.

Yup, it's a bug.

SPOILERS for a few days later.

If you go to Keapon's shop while the Earth Elemental is active, when you leave, he'll talk about the Water Elemental. I think all of his "exit quotes" are a sequence off.

But than again, perhaps to justify the glitch, he seems not all there... he may be giving me hints that I can't use yet because he finds it funny. That sounds exactly like something a wacky lunatic in a game that has no fourth wall, would do. But that's just me musing, I know that likely wasn't intended.

Regardless, after asking this, I played normally and the guard outside of the city re-mentioned the Dervish's request which took off for real this time.

Thanks both of you :)

You can ask the Dervish as soon as you meet him, even if it's just day 1. The beast won't be there, but you'll get your points and he'll tell you about it. You can ask Keapon about the air elemental before it happens and you'll get your points and he'll tell you how to stop it. You can ask Harik about fire and incense before the fire elemental appears and you can ask him about earth before the earth elemental appears. There's lots of things you can ask about in "Quest For Glory 2" before they appear.