Getting his horse riding skill higher would also keep his stats coming in high, or at least, it would help, if he were to believe what the System had told him. Thus, it was less 2 silvers for just a mule and a ride, and more 2 silvers for an investment in future strength.
Money had come easily to him lately as well. He had much of it. He decided that spending it on future investments in strength was likely the best way he could spend it. Jok certainly would not disapprove.
"What other goods have you got?" Vol asked. He had his own food supplies to worry about. Moesh seemed surprised that he was asking, but then he broke out into a smile that was more good-natured than the last one, running a hand through the hair on his balding head.
"Well, I got all manner of dried fruit, if you're interested. Got some apples dried from back in the autumn, mules will be fans of that, if that's what you're looking for," Moesh said. He seemed to be something of a merchant in the way he carried himself, but of course, your typical merchant likely had not killed anywhere near as many as Moesh had.
"I'm on about for me. You're bleeding me dry with the price of oats. I'm saying throw in a good meal for me, and I'll be considering it more heavily," Vol said.
Moesh chuckled at that. "Alright, alright. I suppose you're not as easy to walk over as you first seem, but I'm not gonna let the blade away from your neck too quick on this one, comrade. Opportunity strikes, and a man has got to take advantage of it. Out of pity, I'll throw in some dried beef, and a nice heel of bread – and some bandages for that arm of yours, eh? I expect you'll be needing them."
Vol nodded, not correcting him. "That'll do," he said, handing him two crisp silver coins. He'd always wanted to be able to hand over such an amount of money as though it was nothing to him at all, but Moesh ruined that. To him, two silvers really seemed like nothing at all. He pocketed them in a sleeve as though they were nothing more than loose change.
With how quickly he turned away, Vol half wondered if the man had merely set out to rob and trick him. But Moesh came back a short while later, with a dirty set of bandages, and the food that he had promised. Ignoring the bandages, Vol was at least pleased the food seemed to be of good quality.
"'Ere are the oats as well. I'll be keeping the backpack, if you don't mind," Moesh said, pulling a large sack of oats out of the pack that he'd been carrying. There was definitely more in that bag than any man could hope to eat in the span of a month or two. Vol suspected that Moesh had bought it, hoping to sell it at an upmarket price to the other raiders, once their supplies had run out. He'd missed that opportunity, and now it was for Vol to pick up the pieces.
He dropped the sack unceremoniously, without any of the courtesy that a merchant would usually show to those buying his wares, but then, he wasn't a merchant, he was a murderer – a raider. Vol sighed, and scooped up the bag. He'd have to find room in his pack for it tomorrow.
Without a bucket to offer the mule, he tipped out a sizable amount of oats on the floor. He had no idea how much he was meant to feed a beast of that size, and the animal itself gave no indication, it merely went straight to work polishing them off, its large eyes blinking gratefully as it savoured them.
He tied the rope that Moesh had sold him to one side of the reigns, and then tied the other end around a stone pillar near to where he'd set up his bed. He hoped that would hold it until morning, at least.
…
…
In the days that followed, they continued their march across the country, heading towards the fence that Moesh and Blackbeard had spoken of, so that they might sell their stolen goods and resupply for the journey to the Inland Sea.
During that time, Vol focused on increasing his strength as much as he could. Given that they were marching for most of the day, there wasn't much he could do aside from ride. But that came with its own rewards.
By the middle of the second day, he heard the familiar System announcement, indicating that his mastery of the riding skill had increased by one. It had taken longer than it had for the first point, but that was to be expected. He'd hoped to get it to the third mastery level before the day was over, but had been left disappointed in that regard.
In other ways, though, the System had rewarded him immensely. The issue of his arm was practically nonexistent. He awoke inside the musty cave, after spending the night on a hard stone floor, expecting his body to feel tight and sore from uncomfortable sleep, and from the exertion of the day before… But instead, he felt nothing less than incredible.
He felt absolutely zero muscle fatigue, which was a wonder to him, because training as he did, there was always something that ached from the exertion, yet he had none of that. But neither was he lethargic as he would have normally been had he skipped training. He was energetic, and perfectly well-rested in every muscle.