Night was upon me as I set up a tiny camp next to the road and was currently eating some of the rations from the arachnid people. I wanted to conserve my MREs. Especially since they were the pizza ones. The holy grail of MREs. Maybe someone knows how to make pizza in this world. Right now, I have two goals: First, I need to find Nick whether or not he's dead. Second, is trying to find those explorers. Shit, also need to find a way to resupply my ammunition. I took out the two spools of spider silk and began wrapping it around the grip of my handgun. Once satisfied, I cut the thread and took my glove off to feel the thread. It felt extremely soft and comfortable to hold in my hand.
...
Morning was upon me as I ate some more rations and continued my trek following the river. The morning breeze felt good on my face and the quiet broken up by the jiggle of my equipment made it oddly peaceful. A few hours went by and I stopped hearing something. I looked behind me and saw a mass approaching from the road. I pulled my binos from my pack and saw it looked to be a farmer cart. I waited for the cart to get closer as I raised and waved my hand. The farmer stopped the horse and looked down towards me.
"Hey there friend. Need something?" The farmer asked.
"Just looking for a ride to the nearest town buddy." I answered.
The farmer looked me up and down for a brief moment before nodding his head and slapping the open area next to him.
"Thank you sir."
I climbed up next to him as he whipped the reins and we were moving.
"So, where you coming from stranger?"
"The caves. Found myself lost down there and I have no idea where I am."
"Ah that's quite a predicament yous found yerself in. Well we're in the land of Candris. East Candris to be exact. Closest town is Zendria the Trade City or the City of Trade."
"What made it get it's trade title?"
"Ah that, I don't know. If I had to guess it's probably because in a day's trip, is the port city."
"Makes sense. Well, how far out from Zendria are we?"
"Bout three more hours give or take."
"Alright then."
The ride was pretty quiet after that and I decided to cross my arms and take a light nap to speed up the wait. Which it did because the farmer patted my shoulder. I opened my eyes stretching my body seeing a large city in the distance. The biggest attention grabber was the middle eastern styled building inside the city. It's pointed golden rounded roof was like a beacon to guide people to the city.
"Alright farmers! Drop those reins and no one gets hurt!" A voice shouted at us. I looked down seeing three individuals wearing leather armor with two holding crossbows and one holding his sword in the air.
The farmer cursed under his breath as I patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, we don't want any trouble-"
*BANG*BANG*BANG*
The farmer eyes widened as I got off the cart and double-tapped the bandits. I inspected the bandits and took their coin pouches I found on them. I rolled the bodies out of the way of the road and hopped back onto the cart.
"Thank you, stranger. You and that loud and odd instrument."
"Yeah, no big deal. Let's just keep moving."
We continued our journey, and we reached the city wall stopping in line of other carts that came in from other roads. I looked up seeing guards patrolling the wall carrying odd weapons that looked like very peculiar firearms. We reached the gate as two guys approached the cart one guy holding a clipboard. The man asked the farmer what his business was and what cargo he was carrying. The second guard inspected the cart and gave a thumbs-up. And then we entered the city as I was left speechless. A giant bustling city with a number of fantasy species multiple stores lined the main road we took a turn at the middle of the city as I saw a beautiful river running through the city. We stopped at a general goods store as I hopped off and bid the farmer farewell. I was now in a giant fantasy town with no direction on where to go. I started walking randomly gathering a lay of the land I was still bewildered by the sheer out-of-this-world city. It feels like I just stepped into a fantasy book. I followed the signs around the city and found myself heading eastbound towards what is called the Mercenary Guild. Once I reached it, I was met with a large building with two double doors. Multiple people we're hanging around the building all carrying various weapons and armor. I walked up the small flight of stairs and entered the building. I was met with a loud and almost chaotic scene. People we're moving in-and-out of the building, bulletin boards lined the walls with mercs ripping off assignments to do, and two lines leading to two different tellers. Above was a staircase that led to a cantina. I looked at the line that said 'registration' and got into the line. After a bit of a wait, I reached he front.
"Good afternoon, welcome to the Mercenary Guild, how many people are registering with you today?" The teller spoke in a way that felt pre-recorded.
"Just me sir."
"Okay that'll be twenty gold and what is your name?"
I took the pouches from the bandits and pulled twenty gold pieces out. "Rowan Keener."
"Okay now take your glove off and place your hand on the marked spot on the table."
I placed my hand on the table and watched as my face began to appear on the page. I looked at the empty spaces on the card and saw my name appear, the date of when the card was made, and my Mercenary level.
" Alright, your merc level is one which means you can take on one-star missions. To reach a higher level, you need to have completed a certain number of missions and complete one mission that's of a higher rank. Any questions?"
"Nope."
"Okay then. Good luck and welcome to the Mercenary Guild."