"Are you the vendor heading to Inchor?" I call out.
Standing in front of the Guild building is an older gentleman, somewhere in his early forties. He has a strong tan across his body with a gentle look on his face. A big farming hat sits comfortably on the top of his head, clearly well-worn for many years. What little hair pokes out from underneath is thin and spread. Currently, he is looking at the horses strapped to the wagon.
He waves as I approach, a smile on his face.
"Yes I am," he answers in a raspy voice. "I assume you're the adventurer here to escort me?"
"One of them."
"One? Are there going to be more?" he asks, surprise entering his face.
"Yeah, two more in my party."
"Oh, well, you do know that the reward is only 450 koin total, not each, yes?" he asks, a small sweat of nervousness creeping on his face.
"Yes, we know," I answer with a laugh. "My two party members are new to adventuring, so we're just taking on some easy quests to show them the ropes."
"Ahh," he sighs with relief. "That's good. I certainly won't complain about the extra help."
I laugh once more.
"Is this it then?" I motion to the wagon of goods.
"Yep, this is the goods. In the back, just behind the seat is any extra food and drinks that you and your companions are welcome to. Other than that, please leave the merchandise alone."
"Of course," I reply, taking a look at what he had to provide.
Some bread, crackers, dried fruits, dried meats, and water. Nothing out of the ordinary, just enough to last the journey on top of what we are bringing. As for the goods, plenty of homemade items such as clothing, rugs, and animals skins along with some harvested vegetables.
This should be easy enough.
"Lionell, I'm here!" Lillia shouted, running up with a concerned look on her face. "I'm not late, am I?"
She gasped as she spoke, too worried about being late to notice that we were only looking over the wagon to make sure it was ready rather than waiting for her.
"No, you're right on time young miss," the vendor answers, checking each of the wheels.
Another figure approaches from the direction of the inn I was staying at, fiery red hair burning on his head.
"Welcome back Blake. Got everything you need?"
"Yeah, I do," Blake curtly answered, clearly uninterested in small talk.
It almost feels like he's avoiding me. Is he still upset from the application two days ago? No, surely not. Maybe he just keeps his guard up around others then?
My thoughts trail off as I stand, waiting for the vendor to finish checking his wagon. The man doesn't take long before he turns back, facing us.
"Well, everything is set. My name's Seth," he says, holding his hand out to each of us for a handshake.
"As you heard earlier, I'm Lionell," I say in return, shaking his hand.
"Lillia," she says, also taking his hand.
"Blake," he says, reluctantly shaking Seth's hand.
"Pleasure meeting you three. I'm sure you all know what it is I'm looking to get from you, yes?"
"Of course," Lillia chimed in. "You want us to protect you and your goods on the journey to Inchor."
"Right, any threats at all, we will handle it," Blake jumps in.
"Well good. I see no reason why we should hold off on departing. One of you can ride up front with me. The other two, you can sit at the back of the wagon."
"Perfect, just give us a moment to look over our own equipment, and then we'll be ready," I say.
I start checking my armor first, Lillia and Blake doing the same. Everything is firmly fitted, but not too much that it could hinder movement. Good.
Next was weapons and supplies. A quick glance at my sword showed it to be sharp and ready, same for my spare dagger hidden just behind the sword. As for the pouch on the right of my waist, six potions sat. Three healing, three stamina. As for everything in the pack, plenty of food and water for the journey. Good.
Finally was my overall condition. I was still rather sore from sleeping on the chair again, but no cuts and bruises to worry about. As for my mental condition, I was quite fine. Good.
Finding mostly everything to be in good order, I look to the other two, who were just finishing up their own check.
"I'm good," Lillia answered with a thumbs-up.
Blake simply nodded.
"Okay, we're ready. I'll ride up front with you. Blake, Lillia, you both sit on the back. We can trade spots whenever needed. Remembr, keep an eye and ear out for anything out of the ordinary. We want things to go nice and smoothly."
They both nod, moving to sit at the back of the wagon while I move to sit at the front, Seth sitting next to me. He takes the reigns in his hands before giving them a good flick, causing the two horses to start moving.
"We're off then," he says as the horses pull us forward.
Well, nothing but time on our hands now. Need to keep an eye on our surroundings.
Focusing, I watch around us as we slowly depart from Klumix and into the light woods on this side of the village. Nothing but vegetation and wildlife catch my eyes, living in their own little worlds, far separated from ours.
The leaves above flow playfully with the breeze, the birds tweet happily in the branches, the flowers stand beautifully in the sunlight, and the wildlife watches carefully as we pass. Still, nothing noteworthy catches my eye.
Further and further we pull out from the village, until eventually, the village is well and truly out of sight, leaving us surrounded by the light woods alone.
"Beautiful land out this way," Seth says, suddenly pulling me from my strong focus on the surroundings.
"It truly is," I say, actually looking at what was around us instead of watching for potential threats.
"Say, what was it that brought you to adventuring?" Seth asks, turning to look at me as the horses steadily pull forward.
"Oh, the usual. Money and fame, just like anyone else. But things like that don't always work out how you expect them to, so now I just stick with the easy quests. Make myself useful and make some honest money."
"Oh, I see," Seth replied. "For me, if I was an adventurer, it wouldn't be anything grand like that. No, it would just be the sights that the world has to offer. I think that's what would bring me to it."
"I can't say I blame you. There truly isn't much quite like it."
My mind slowly drifts back to my novice days as an adventurer. The friends I partied with, the mistakes we made together and learned from, the stories we had to tell. The heights we reached truly were magnificent, but we were far from invincible.
How naive we were.
The horses march ever forward, rhythmically, rarely slowing or pausing, always persistent. With their march came new environments as well as the passage of time, slow and steady as the day wore on.
Soon enough, the sun had crossed the sky starting from the east, and was nearing the horizon on the west. No obstacles came to be in our way throughout the entire journey of our first day. The trees of the light woods were well behind us, replaced by wide open planes.
"We should stop soon. Don't want to be travelling in the dark, and the horses could use some rest to eat and sleep," Seth says, tugging at the reigns to bring the horses to a stop just off of the path where a lone tree stands.
"Is this the spot then?" I ask, looking around.
"It sure is. Go ahead and start setting up camp while I take care of the horses."
"Of course, consider it done," I say as I hop down, meeting Blake and Lillia behind the wagon.
"We camp here tonight. Blake, with your flame spells, you go ahead and set up a fireplace," I direct.
Blake nods.
"As for you Lillia, you can help me set up tents for the night."
"Okay," she answers with determination.
The work is rather quick. Blake has a fire ready in no time at all with the help of his Flame-Shot spell, and it doesn't take Lillia and I long at all to set up tents.
With everything ready and finished, all four of us gather around the fire, sharing a warm and quiet dinner.
"We want to make sure nothing creeps up in the middle of the night, so watch will be split between the three of us in three hour intervals. I'll take the first watch," I say, biting into a loaf provided by Seth.
"I'll take the second one," Lillia volunteers.
"And I the third," Blake states.
"Perfect. If anything happens at all, anything looks suspicious or seems dangerous, we wake each other up and take care of it, understood?"
They both nod.
"Good. Then you both get some rest. I'll wake you in three hours Lillia."