Eryndor rushed to Krog's room, looking frazzled. "Krog, I need your help," he said, explaining his dilemma. "I told Elara that I was going to create a party and invited her to join, just to make conversation. But she actually agreed to join, and now I have to make a party and go on adventures with her."
Krog was stupefied by his master's antics. "Well, Master, there are many types of adventures, but most will come in these three types: carrying goods from town to town, treasure hunting, or bounty hunting," he said, trying to educate Eryndor on the basics of adventuring.
Eryndor thought for a moment, weighing his options. "Carrying goods is dull and there's no money in it, treasures could be a waste of time, and although bounty hunting is exciting, searching for the bounty could be boring," he said, dismissing each option.
But then, a sly grin spread across his face. "How about this, we'll carry goods and buy treasure maps close to the location where we are carrying the goods, and also take bounties on people who can possibly be located in that place. It'll be a three-in-one adventure party!"
Krog couldn't help but think that only his master could come up with such a harebrained scheme. "Normally, people only choose one profession for their entire lives, but here you are, choosing all of them at once. If it's you, Master, I somehow think it's possible," he thought to himself.
"Then our first task would be to acquire a carriage and get a mission," Krog said, trying to bring Eryndor back down to earth.
"I know just the person who can assist us," he added, a hint of a smile on his face. "You mean Ogre Xora?" Eryndor asked, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
Krog nodded, and the two of them set off to visit Xora. When they arrived, Xora was feeding his dire wolves. "Xora, we need your help, we want to start a goods carriage business," Krog said, getting straight to the point.
Xora looked at them with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. "What about your slave trading business?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Krog didn't want to remember the bad memories of his past. "I've already left it, left it," he said, trying to brush off the topic.
Xora nodded, seeming to accept Krog's explanation. "Alright, if you're looking for a mission, I've got a few," he said, rummaging through some old and tattered pages. "Here, there are green level, blue level, and red level missions. Since you're new, I'd recommend the easiest green level mission."
But Eryndor, who had been observing the conversation from the sidelines, suddenly piped up. "What about the red mission?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Xora's expression turned serious. "Sir, red level missions are dangerous, they could most definitely put your party's lives in jeopardy. Only those who have the guts to put their lives on the line for the mission accept it," he warned.
But Eryndor was undeterred. "It's fine, we'll pick this one," he said, his jaw set in determination.
Krog sighed, already resigning himself to fate. "It's fine, Master has already decided on it," he said, trying to persuade Xora to accept their decision.
Xora nodded, seeming to accept their choice. "Now, take us to buy a good carriage and animals," Krog said, trying to move on to the next step.
Xora took them to the Carriage shop, where Eryndor promptly fell in love with a luxurious carriage worth two thousand gold coins. The carriage had comfortable seats and luxurious curtains, and Eryndor couldn't resist its charms.
But the last thing to be bought was an animal to pull the carriage. The duo, along with Xora, went to the mount shop, where they found a huge earth dragon that had been brought in to sell. The earth dragon was an alligator-type creature with horns on its head, and it was known for its speed and strength.
But for some unknown reason, the earth dragon had decided to go full-on berserk mode, causing chaos in the shop. Eryndor's eyes went wide as he looked at the massive creature, and in an instant, he had decided that this was the animal that would pull his carriage.
Krog, on the other hand, looked at his master's eyes and already knew that they were in trouble. "Earth dragons are intelligent and prideful, they only value the strong. If Master wants him to pull your carriage, then you must show him that you're stronger than him. He will only obey the strong," Krog said, closing his eyes and speaking like an old man with wisdom.
But Eryndor was too impatient and only listened to half of his words. All he caught was "They obey the strong". To prove his worth, Eryndor started beating the earth dragon to a pulp.
The earth dragon, whose name was Gronk, was taken aback by Eryndor's sudden attack. He tried to defend himself, but Eryndor's strength was too much for him. A few hundred punches and kicks later, Gronk was lying on the ground, defeated and humiliated.
The trainers who were trying to calm the beast were looking at Eryndor in awe and shock. They were all thinking the same thing alongside Krog, "What kind of an imbecile shows strength to their mount this way?"
Krog only meant for Eryndor to show his strength, not to beat up the poor earth dragon. Even the trainers were feeling sorry for Gronk.
In the end, Eryndor bought Gronk from the shop for five hundred gold coins. The shop owner was also happy to get rid of the troublesome earth dragon.
As they left the shop, Gronk was silently protesting inwardly. He was thinking, "Why did I have to meet this crazy human? I was living a peaceful life, and now I'm stuck with this lunatic."
Eryndor, on the other hand, was excitedly patting Gronk on the back, saying, "Don't worry, big guy, we're going to have some great adventures together!"