In the large city of Verice.
"Hey Davis, how's Damien doing? Is that sucker still wanting to be a soldier?"
Joseph asked with his breath full of alcohol even if he is one of Davis's friends. Joseph has always been the lucky drunk and decided to keep him and use his luck to make trades in the nick of time.
"yeah well my son is pretty stubborn, when he decides to do something it is difficult to make him change his mind"
Davis was sitting in an inn chatting with his co-workers. As a trader, he has to keep a keen eye and eves-drop on nearby patrons of the Tavern to get any trade rumors.
As he was listening he heard one of the adventurers talking about his village. Immediately recognizing that his village was mentioned Davis decided to focus his hearing more. Trying to understand what the 2 adventurers are talking about.
"Hey, have you heard the horde is pushing back the army?" Soldier 1 said in a depressed tone.
"Yeah, I heard the village called Kuftein might have to be abandoned" Soldier 2 replied back in a serious tone. Trying to shake the last bits of mead from his wooden cup.
"Yeah that would suck, they trade a lot of firewood. Our winters will only get colder" Soldier 1, who shot back.
"Well, we just have to hope and pray that we push them back...At least once we need a victory" The 2nd Soldier said as his voice slowly faded into the hustle and bustle of the tavern filled with music, drunk men, and the clattering of the plates and bowls.
Davis, hearing his village name mentioned, hurriedly got back into his wagon after it was loaded with mostly preserved food items and some cloth and made his way back to Kufstein.
*cough cough*
"Damien, I hope that you will protect your mother"
~Village of Kufstein~
"Damien, I see that you are quite packed for the journey" A Woman in what seems to be in her mid-20s spoke in a teasing tone.
'Who are you?' I thought to myself. Looking at the woman I would give a solid eight out of ten.
"Yes, I am planning to go to our training with my instructor in the woods. May I know who this fine lady is?" I replied back with a tone full of confidence and body language oozing with charisma.
"pfft haha, name's Rose. I will be coming with you to the plateau in case you get too hurt" Rose spoke with a light tone, not taking Damien seriously.
"It is a pleasure knowing that such a beautiful lady will be taking care of my beaten body"
Giving a smile, I reached out my hands and grabbed Roses giving a kiss on the back of her hand.
"Quite the lady's man aren't you now" Looking at her hazel eyes with my platinum hair flowing with the wind.
"I am just behaving as my mother taught me when I see a fairy"
"your mother taught you well, that glib tongue of yours might get you in trouble boy"
"If it is trouble with you then I certainly won't mind it" Giving her one of the best smiles and a tone full of flirtatious undertones.
"had enough fun flirting with her?" Ben shouted with his signature great sword resting on his shoulders.
'OH SHIT'
'All the mood I've built up is all gone now in an instant. What a mood killer damn.'
Feeling disappointed but I corrected myself and got myself straight. With hours of practice in acting, I can get out of trouble with my mother. I put on my innocent yet awkward face a 180-degree contrast to my behavior before.
"Uncl-Ahem Sir, I was just getting to know her. I was not flirting with her"
"Well, I would recommend you to control yourself, she is much older than you"
'Old? She looks like she's in her twenties wtf do you mean old'
"Yes sir, I am ready for the trip I will follow your lead"
"Follow? Don't make me laugh private, I'm going over there to the plateau and you will figure out how to get there. You have 3 days and 2 nights to reach me before I look for you and best it into you"
'Damn…did I sign my life away this early?'
Seeing the 2 of them disappear into the woods, I looked at the plateau over the tree line.
'I have quite the journey, well now that I don't see them anymore I guess it is time for me to make my move'
Walking forward, I kept a decent pace. With my previous training before I had developed quite the stamina. So that means I should make decent progress as long as I don't get distracted or pushed off course.
~2 hours later~
"What the shit?!?"
"how am I supposed to cross this goddamn river?"
Looking at the rushing water I knew if I tried to step into that I would be sucked into the rapids and probably not make it up from there. A journey ending because of water would certainly be one of the most embarrassing for me.
"Well, if I were an uncle what would I do?"
Walking on the side and looking I spotted an area where the water was stagnant and there were some rocks I could use to cross.
'that area looks like a good spot to cross. There will probably be some fish in that stagnant area I might be able to catch. Having extra food on hand never hurts
Grabbing a piece of stick nearby, I used my knife and cut the end into a point and split it into quarters. Grabbing a random piece of rock I tied it down at the end to make the 4 edges split out making a crude fishing spear
'This should do, I see the village fishermen do it efficiently so this shouldn't be too hard
"..."
After an hour of trying and having no success I could feel the frustration building up and I'm getting hungry!
'I will get one of you, I swear on my mother'
Feeling like a useless fool, I continued not caring about the fact that I am wasting more time and energy on such frivolous behavior. I need to get this, I am the man, I need to at least provide.
"YES, HAHA"
Finally, after getting a fish I looked around and saw that the sun was already descending. Slowly being swallowed by the earth and at the moment the sky looked as if it was bleeding golden blood.
'Well there goes the progress that I was so happy about'
Quickly gutting the fish and hanging it on my waist, I started walking into the woods while looking for a place to crash for the night.
After some time I stumbled across an open area, with trees encircling the spot. Checking the perimeter, making sure that no large game was nearby that could endanger me while resting.
Choosing this area for the camp I gathered some wood and made a quick fire while putting the fish to cook over the open flame.
While the fish was cooking I got out my kit of just a sleeping bag and pillow. And quickly made a sleeping area. Though I wasn't feeling too tired.
'well it is the first day of the trip makes sense I don't feel super tired'
After sitting around sharpening my knife on a piece of rock for a while, I went up and checked on the fish. Grabbing the stick I peeled the burnt skin and scales revealing the perfectly cooked flaky fish meat and started eating it.
'damn, this doesn't taste good. I miss my mother's cooking already. I don't even want to start rating the jerky in case I don't catch anything else to eat.'
With nothing else to do, I lay down and tried to sleep. After a while, I forced myself to get some rest.
*chirp chirp*
Waking up I quickly packed the kit back into the bag. Seeing that the fire had already snuffed out by itself. I continued walking towards the plateau, this time focused on making progress.
While waking I had this strong sense of thirst.
'Damn, well I haven't drunk much and it's near winter so the air is dry anyways.'
Opening my canteen I chugged down the water.
Gulping down the contents like a man who has been stranded for weeks in the desert.
"Hah, that's some good water. Though I'm still thirsty-I will save the rest for later in case I don't see more freshwater"